BUSDIM idSl MAR 1
THE MODERN LANGUAGE
REVIEW
VOLUME XVI
1921
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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THE
MODERN LANGUAGE
REVIEW
A QUARTERLY JOURNAL DEMOTED TO THE STUDT
' OF MEDIEVAL AND MODERN LITERATURE
AND PHILOLOGY
EDITED BY
J. G. ROBERTSON
G. C. MOORE SMITH
AND
EDMUND G. GARDNER
VOLUME XVI
Cambridge
at the University Press
1921
pe>
I/./6-/7
".
CONTENTS
ARTICLES. PAGE
BARBIER, PAUL, Loan-Words from English in Eighteenth-Century
French 138, 252
BRAUNHOLTZ, E. G. W., Cambridge Fragments of the Anglo-Norman
' Roman de Horn '..... .
CLARK, ARTHUR M., The Authorship of 'Appius and Virginia' . . 1
EMERSON, OLIVER FARRAR, Grendel's Motive in attacking Heorot . 113 •
FARNHAM, WILLIAM EDWARD, John (Henry) Scogan . . . . 120
FIELDEN, F. J., Court Masquerades in Sweden in the Seventeenth
Century 47, 150
HUGHES, MERRITT Y., The Humanism of Francis Jeffrey . . . 243
NICOLL, ALLARDYCE, Political Plays of the Restoration . . . 224 — •
PEERS, E. ALLISON, Some Spanish Conceptions of Romanticism . . 281 -
POSTON, MERVYN L., The Origin of the English Heroic Play . . 18
STOPES, CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL, Thomas Edwards, Author of
* Cephalus and Procris, Narcissus '....... 209
STUDER, PAUL, An Anglo-Norman Poem by Edward II, King of England 34
WELLS, WILLIAM, « The Birth of Merlin ' 129
x WICKSTEED, PHILIP H., The Ethical System of the ' Inferno 265
WILLOUGHBY, L. A., English Translations and Adaptations of Schiller's
^" 'Robbers' 297*
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
ALLEN, HOPE EMILY, The ' Ancren Riwle ' and Kilburn Priory . . 316
BALD, R. C., Cyril Tourneur, ' Atheist's Tragedy,' Act iv, Sc. 1 . . 324
BELL, AUBREY F. G., Portuguese and Italian Sonnets . . . . 173
BROWN, CARLETON, The Stonyhurst Pageants . . . . . 167
BRYAN, W. F., The Verbal Ending 's' of the Third Person Singular . 324
CHARLTON, H. B., Buckingham's Adaptation of ' Julius Caesar ' and a
Note in the 'Spectator' . 171
GREG, W. W., ' Bengemenes Johnsones Share ' . . ., . . 323
MARTIN, L. C., ' Yet if his Majesty our Sovereign Lord' ... 169
RAAMSDONK, I. N., ' La Changun de Rainoart ' 173
RAAMSDONK, I. N., ' Ras ' in the ' Mystere d'Adam/482 ... 325
RENWICK, W. L., Chaucer's Triple Roundel, ' Merciles Beaute ' . 322
SEDGEFIELD, W. J., Suggested Emendations in Old English Poetical
Texts 59
SUMMERS, MONTAGUE, Doors and Curtains in Restoration Theatres . 66
THALER, ALWIN, ' Bengemenes Johnsones Share ' 61
vi Contents
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES cont. PAGE
TUTTLE, EDWIN H., Notes on * The Seven Sages ' . . . . . 166
WOLEDGE, G., An Allusion in Browne's ' Keligio Medici' ... 65
KE VIEWS.
Amos, F. R., Early Theories of Translation (R. H. Case) ... 74
Barbi, M., Studi danteschi, II (E. G. Gardner) 354
Baskett, W. D., Parts of the Body in the Later Germanic Dialects
(W. E. Collinson) . 96
Benedetto, L. F., Le Origini di 4 Salammbo ' (R. L. G. Ritchie) . ( . 94
Bonnaffe, E., L'Anglicisme dans la langue frangaise (Paul Barbier) . 90
Burchardt, C. B., Norwegian Life and Literature : English Accounts
(Herbert G. Wright) 196
Campbell, 0. J., The ' Roode en Witte Roos ' in the Saga of Richard III
(P. Geyl) 191
Carre", J. M., Goethe en Angleterre (Arthur E. Turner) .... 364
Crane, T. F., Italian Social Customs of the 16th Century (E. G. Gardner) 184
Cruickshank, A. H., Philip Massinger (H. Dugdale Sykes) . , . 340
Dante, The Letters of, ed. by P. Toynbee (E. G. Gardner) , . . 183
Deanesly, M., The Lollard Bible (E. W. Watson) . - -L ... 72
Dibelius, W., Charles Dickens (Oliver Elton) 350
English Madrigal Verse, ed. by E. H. Fellowes (G. C. Moore Smith) . 332
Ermatinger, E., G. Kellers Leben, Briefe und Tagebucher (J. M. Clark) 190
Gil Vicente, Four Plays, ed. by A. F. G. Bell (George Young) . . 186
Keiser, A., The Influence of Christianity on Old English Poetry (L. L.
Schiicking) 176*
Mutschmann, H., Milton und das Licht (H. J. C. Grierson) . . . 343
Old English Ballads, ed. by H. E. Rollins (Arundell Esdaile) . . 330
Pange, M. du, Les Lorrains et la France au Moyen-Age (Jessie Croslaud) . 180
Parodi, E. G., Poesia e storia nella * Divina Commedia ' (E. G. Gardner) 354
Paul, H., Deutsche Grammatik, V, iv (W. E. Collinson) ... 187
Percy Reprints, The, Nos. 1, 2, ed. by H. F. B. Brett-Smith (R. H. Case) 77
Price, H. T., The Text of Henry V (A. W. Pollard) . 339
Price, L. M., English > German Literary Influences (L. A. Willoughby) 192
Ramsay. M. P., Les Doctrines m^die" vales chez Donne (H. J. C. Grierson) 343
Royal Society of Literature, Transactions, xxxvii (R. H. Case) . . • 178
Saurat, D., La Pensee de Milton (H. J. C. Grierson) .... 343
Schiicking, L. L., Die Charakterprobleme bei Shakespeare (H. V. Routh) 78
Shakespeare, W., Henry VI, i ; Othello (Yale Shakespeare) (R. B.
McKerrow) 177
Shakespeare, W., Henry V (Australasian Shakespeare) (R. B. MeKerrow) 1 77
Spanish Literature, Cambridge Readings in, ed. by J. Fitzmaurice-
Kelly (H. E. Butler) . 357
Surrey, Earl of, Poems, ed. by F. M. Padelford (G. D. Willcock) . . 336
Swann, H. J., French Terminologies in the Making (R. L. G. Ritchie) . 182
Thomas, H., Spanish and Portuguese Romances of Chivalry (W. P. Ker) 356
Vega, Lope de, Obras, III (H. A. Rennert) 358
Wyld, HL C., A History of Colloquial English (J. H. G. Grattan) . . 87
Contents vii
MINOR NOTICES. PAGE
Chamard, H., Origines de la Poesie francaise de la Renaissance . . 198
Evelyn, John, Early Life and Education, ed. by H. Maynard Smith . 370
Farnell, I., Spanish Prose and Poetry ....... 99
Feist, S., Worterbuch der gotischen Sprache, I 98
Langenfelt, G., Toponymies 370
Lanson, G., Esquisse d'une Histoire de la Tragedie frangaise . . 371
Lyon, J. H. H., 'The New Metamorphosis ' by J. M. Gent ... 197
Macclintock, L., Sainte-Beuve's Critical Theory and Practice . . 199
Neri, F., II Chiabrera e la Pleiade francese . . . . . . 372
Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur, On the Art of Reading . . . . j 98
Oxford Italian Series, i, ii 200
Selections from Saint-Simon, ed. by A. Tilley 199
Thomas, H., Catalogue of Spanish Books 372
Van Doren, M., Poetry of John Dryden 371
Yea'r Book of Modern Languages, ed. by G. Waterhouse ... 98
NEW PUBLICATIONS 100,201,373
VOLUME XVI JANUARY, 1921 NUMBER 1
THE AUTHORSHIP OF 'APPIUS AND VIRGINIA.'
IT is not my intention to begin from the beginning to construct a
theory of authorship for Appius and Virginia, but rather to supplement
the conclusions of the late Mr Rupert Brooke, published in The Modern
Language Review, vol. vm, No. 4, October 1913, and more fully in his
John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama. And first I must say that
I accept, with only slight modifications, Mr Brooke's findings, which were
thus summed up :
' General, critical, and aesthetic impressions, more particular examination of various
aspects, and the difficulty of fitting it in chronologically, make it impossible to
believe that Appius and Virginia is by Webster, while the evidence in favour of
his authorship is very slight. All these considerations, and also remarkable features
of vocabulary and characterisation, make it highly probable that it is by Hey wood.
The slight similarities between The Duchess of Malji and Appius and Virginia may
be due to Webster borrowing in The Duchess of Malji from Heywood, or revising
Appius and Virginia, or having, not for the first time, collaborated with Heywood,
but very subordinately. In any case, Appius and Virginia must be counted among
Heywood's plays ; not the best of them, but among the better ones ; a typical
example of him in his finer moments,, written rather more carefully than is usual
with that happy man1.'
Mr Brooke will allow only that Webster, if he revised, ' shortened and
made more dramatic the very beginning of the play, and heightened, or
even rewrote, the trial scerie (iv, I)2.' The only criticism I make is that
I trace Webster's hand rather more frequently but not more integrally
than in these two scenes.
Further work on Appius and Virginia may seem supererogatory
after Mr Brooke's brilliant and convincing argument for Heywood's
authorship. I would not undertake to say anything more, agreeing as
I do entirely with the attribution and conclusion arrived at, if I did not
think it worth while to dot the i's and cross the t's of Mr Brooke's
critique and to look at the question anew from the side of Heywood
rather than from that of Webster.
The first point, which I would stress more strongly than has been
done, is almost purely aesthetic. The difference of the play from
anything certainly by Webster needs no further emphasising, but just
wherein the dissimilarity lies has been indicated only in a general
fashion. From the construction and the tragic conception to the metre
1 John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama, pp. 204-5. 2 Ibid. p. 203.
M. L. R.XVI. 1
2 The Authorship of 'Appius and Virginia'
and vocabulary, through the whole gamut of the critical scale, the play
is false to the Websterian note while at the same time, to my ears at
least after a pretty thorough study of Hey wood's plays, poems and
prose, it is almost pure Hey wood. Hardly anything in Appius and
Virginia could not have been written by Heywood, although there are
passages unlike his technique : but there is much so absolutely un-
Websterian that one wonders whether Moseley did not assign it to
Webster out of mere charity. That there is much dramatic work
of Heywood's extant but unidentified is highly probable when one
remembers his avowed voluminousness1. He was a classical scholar of
no mean attainments, if often very careless in his use of his learning,
almost a third of his extant plays having a classical background and
one of these being as like Appius and Virginia as one twin is to
another. There is therefore an a priori argument for a Heywoodian
origin, slight as that may be.
Webster is notoriously 'romantic/ even among his contemporaries,
in construction ; he impresses by his scenes, never by a whole play ; he
uses every device, legitimate or questionable, for producing the desired
effect. Yet this tale is told in full, not by a series of impressionist
sketches which make up by their vigour for what they lack in continuity,
but in a straightforward, downright, naive, complete and unsuggestive
manner. It is as if a child were narrating the story, leaving nothing
out, trusting little to the hearer's intelligence and finishing off with
rewards and punishments. This is exactly the practice of Heywood;
he ' cannot keep counsel, he tells all,' but with the addition, as here, of
the skill of an experienced playwright and actor.
Moreover, the play has the simplicity of plot that Heywood preferred :
he avoids the intrigue that crowds everything else out of the five acts in
favour of one sufficiently obvious to permit of subsidiary episodes and
extraneous characters so long as they do not render it unintelligible.
The conception of tragedy, implicit in Appius and Virginia, is medieval :
that is to say, it is no more than a pathetic tale, a tale which, curiously
enough, was one of the most frequently told in the middle ages. But
it is Heywood's conception of tragedy: in his canon we are never
conscious of the 'triumph of the inner self/ the emergence of the
protagonist spiritually triumphant even in death, which is the essence
of Webster's drama as it is of Shakespeare's. It is true that the
1 Indeed I believe that some non-dramatic work of Heywood's is still anonymous ;
especially do I think that The Actors Remonstrance, 1643 (reprinted in W. C. Hazlitt's
English Drama) might be his.
ARTHUR M. CLARK 3
story is inherently unsuited for great tragedy : but is not the profound
dramatist revealed as much by his choice as by his craftsmanship ? And
is the plot such as would have naturally appealed to the sombre and
exotic imagination of Webster ?
The characters, too, are the merest shadows beside Bosola or
Vittoria : they remind us almost of amateurish water-colours. We
look in vain for the murky heat, the mysterious solemnity, the unex-
plained but terribly natural motives of Webster's personages. It is
inconceivable that Webster should make Virginia reveal herself and
her creator's inadequacy in lines such as these :
'My father's wondrous pensive, and withal
With a suppress'd rage left his house displeas'd,
And so in post is hurried to the camp :
It sads me much ; to expel which melancholy,
I have sent for company.' (n, I.)1
It is not uncommon, or unnatural for the voluminous Heywood so to
lay bare the ' secret de Polichinelle.' It is enlightening to compare with
the above a passage from The White Devil: when Vittoria leaves the
stage, ' Brachiano turns/ says Mr Brooke, ' with a flaming whisper, to
Flamineo. He wastes no words. He does not foolishly tell the audience,
" I am in love with that woman who has just gone off."
Brachiano. " Flamineo "
Flamineo. "My lord?"
Brachiano. "Quite lost, Flamineo."
Webster thought dramatically2.' There are no examples in this play of
Webster's studied effects in gesture, grouping, expression, which are as
detailed and deliberate as the art of a painter. Appius is the childish
ogre of a man like Heywood who never really painted a villain in his
life, and who could not dispatch him without a relaxation of his assumed
sternness. The clown, as has been noticed by Mr Brooke, is as truly
Hey wood's as any which appear in his certified dramas, besides being as
un-Websterian as one could well imagine. I have noticed that all
Heywood's clowns, besides drenching us with puns which may once have
been new, hardly ever fail to add a few Latin scraps (A. and V. II, 1);
really 'quite unnatural in the very English personage wko speaks them
and not to be accounted for by the necessities of the Roman setting.
' His conceit is fluent/ as Collatine says of his kinsman in The Rape
of Lucrece: but Webster, who had difficulty in finding words to go
round his serious characters, would hardly introduce a spendthrift to
drain his note-books. This type of clown, his attachment to the lady,
1 Dyce's 4 vol. edition, 1830 and 1857. 2 Op. cit. 93.
1—2
4 The Authorship of l Appius and Virginia
his tone of voice, his impudence especially to a female attendant on
the lady, his amorousness, the suggestion of the licensed fool rather
than of the rustic, his acquaintance with the town, particularly on its
disreputable side, his frequent mention of food and drink, appear in
practically every play of Heywood; and in addition into Corbulo's
mouth is put one of the Shakespearean reminiscences (Heywood's
for a ducat !) :
4 There's a certain fish, that, as the learned divulge, is called a shark : now this
fish can never feed while he swims upon 's belly ; marry, when he lies upon his back,
0, he takes it at pleasure.' (A. and V. in, 2.)
Nor is the absence of Webster's rhetorical and stylistic devices any
less striking : I would mention first one which I have never noticed in
any critique, a trick of preparing the audience for an entrance by some
such phrase as * Here's the Cardinal,' ' She comes,' ' The lord ambassadors.'
The usage is not always so bald ; occasionally it can be extraordinarily
effective as at the entrance of the mad Ferdinand :
* Bosola. . . . Listen ; I hear
One's footing.
Enter FERDINAND.
Ferdinand. Strangling is a very quiet death1.'
I have counted seventeen such cues in The Duchess of Malfi, about a
dozen or more in The White Devil and • some six or seven in The Devil's
Law Case, with, in all three plays, a few less clear announcements. In
Appius and Virginia there are only three such preparatory entrance
cues at the very most, one of them in a suspected passage (Act I, Scene 1,
which, from the use of prose in Webster's manner and a quotation from
The Duchess ofMalfi, Mr Brooke considered to have been revised by him).
Again, to avoid monotony, Webster frequently apportions what is
really a single long speech into sentences spoken alternately by two
persons: cf. the opening of The White Devil or the lecture of the
Cardinal and Ferdinand to their sister (D. of M. Act I, Scene 2), to
which she replies :
(I think this speech between you both was studied,
It came so roundly off,3
a remark repeated almost verbatim but less relevantly in the court scene
of Appius and Virginia which is the most Websterian part of the play ;
but as the dialogue is not the dismembered fragments of a single speech,
it looks extremely like a later addition. Still another mannerism of
Webster's is the insertion of anecdotes or anecdotal similes into his
dialogue, e.g. D. of M. Act ill, Scene 2, 1. 197 :
1 The Duchess ofMalfi, v, 4.
ARTHUR M. CLARK 5
' Oh, the inconstant
And rotten ground of service ! you may see
'Tis even like him, that in a winter's night,
Takes a long slumber o'er a dying fire,
A-loth to part from 't ; yet parts thence as cold
As when he first sat down : '
Examples of complete apologues are D. of M. Act ill, Scene 5, 1. 124, and
Act III, Scene 2, 1. 121. This practice is perhaps related to a habit of
speaking away from the subject to answer cryptically and at first sight
irrelevantly, a means more effective than a kindred artifice of Webster's,
of putting, in the remarks of some ' sarcastic knave,' strings of disjointed
pungent aphorisms. These devices are equally foreign to the style of
Appius and Virginia and to Hey wood : examples occur only of the first,
one in Act v, Scene 1, which is already suspect from the re-appearance
of the advocate and the satire on his profession, a common butt of
Webster :
' Let me alone ; I have learnt with the wise hedgehog,
To stop my cave that way the tempest drives.
Never did bear-whelp tumbling down a hill,
With more art shrink his head betwixt his claws,
Than I will work my safety ; '
another in the trial scene, and a third at the end of Act v, Scene 2.
Webster has a partiality for similes from animals — a kind of reformed
euphuism — e.g. from the dormouse,
' He is so quiet that he seems to sleep
The tempest out, as dormice do in winter'
(cf. the above quotation from Appius and Virginia), the owl, the sala-
mander, the cockatrice, the basilisk, the leveret, etc. Mr Brooke has
noted his mathematical figures and his asides : I do not remember
to have seen more than a passing reference in Mr Vaughan's essay in
Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. 6, to the medicine, surgery,
alchemy, astrology and science of his day with which his plays are packed,
but which do not appear in Appius and Virginia. Nor has this play many
of Webster's favourite words, ' foul ' (see John Webster and the Eliza-
bethan Drama, p. 177), ' dunghill,' ' politic,' ' intelligence,' etc., and all the
solemnities of the grave, its ' melancholy yew trees an<J death's-heads.'
Webster's most remarkable feature is the thrift of his style, his making
the very most of his materials, but with a restraint and power compar-
able to Velazquez's manipulation of his seven colours. In direct contrast
is the flaccid, fluent, facile manner of Appius and Virginia : which has
not even the most platitudinous pregnancy — there is not one detachable
epigram in its five acts.
Probably what first brands Appius and Virginia as apocryphal in
6 The Authorship of '' Appius and Virginia'
the Websterian canon is the metre. On this Mr Brooke has comparatively
little to say. The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, says Professor
Saintsbury, 'are among the most irregular productions, prosodically
speaking, of all the great age ; the others are much less so, and Appius
and Virginia, whether in compliment to its classical subject or not, is
almost regular.... The Devil's Law Case stands nearer to the great
plays than to Appius and Virginia. The last, when it is not prose, is
fairly regular blank verse of the middle kind, neither as wooden as the
earlier, nor as limber and sometimes limp, as the later1.' But in
Webster's greater plays prose, verse and versified prose are inextricably
jumbled. One might say that 'it was pain and grief to him ' to write
verse ' and that he ' shirked it as much as possible1.' But while Webster
found it easier to write prose, Heywood dropped most naturally into
verse, and used it frequently when prose was preferable. 'Heywood/
says Professor Saintsbury, ' has a sort of tap of blank verse, not at all
bad, which he can turn on at any time2.' Now Appius and Virginia
has exactly this easy, undistinguished, tolerable verse which one finds
everywhere in Heywood — a versification characterised by its lack of
characteristics. Mr Brooke has noted the frequency of rhyme, which,
one might add, occurs in couplets and passages apparently irrationally,
as prose does in Webster, and the large number of elisions. Heywood
works on a strictly iambic basis and very rarely admits 'trisyllabic
substitution,' ruthlessly expunging all hypermetric syllables, especially
in his non-dramatic verse, whereas Webster freely uses anapaests and
dactyls. Never, however, are Hey wood's lines cacophonous as Webster's
frequently are, who throws all harmony to the winds to get the effect
desired :
' Cover her face ; mine eyes dazzle ; she died young.'
Heywood does not break up his verse into such small phrases, but runs
on and overflows from line to line : his syntax is not co-ordinative and
disjunctive as Webster's is. Moreover Heywood fairly carefully dovetails
his verse and rejects such licences as the Alexandrine. In every
respect Appius and Virginia agrees with Heywood's practice.
Mr Brooke thinks that there is an a priori probability of a play with
some thirty years of acting life being altered during that period. As
evidence that this play was altered, he adduces a passage of prose
in the midst of verse (Act I, Scene 1), and the strange collapse of
Icilius' hostility to Appius in Act II, Scene 3, after he had accused him
of sinister intentions, which incident is followed by a different version
1 History of English Prosody, vol. n, pp. 76-77. 2 Ibid. pp. 80-81.
ARTHUR M. CLARK 7
of it for no reason in Icilius' report to Virginia, etc., in Act ill, Scene 1.
Dyce also remarks that the scene of this interview between Icilius and
Appius is at first an outer apartment of the latter's house; but he
reproves Marcus Claudius later, when Icilius has retired, for sending
'a ruffian hither Even to my closet.' All these difficulties seem to point
to an abbreviation of a work which in its longer form would have been
quite intelligible. Such a supposition is supported by other facts which I
shall adduce. In Act I, Scene 2, a servant interrupts the conversation
of Icilius, Virginia and Numitorius who is saying a propos of what has
gone before :
'Thus ladies still foretell the funeral
Of their lord's kindness.
(Enter a servant, ivhispers ICILIUS in the ear]
But, my lord, what news ? '
And despite the fact that a message of any length could not have been
delivered, Icilius is able to give a detailed description of Virginius'
arrival, appropriate only to an eye-witness :
...'for his horse,
Bloody with spurring, shows as if he came
From forth a battle : never did you see
'Mongst quails and cocks in fight a bloodier heel,
Than that your brother strikes with.' etc.
How does he know all this ? Is the servant not a later addition to
disguise a cut in which Icilius had really seen Virginius ? Then in
Scene 3 of the same act, which seems to take place in Appius' house,
Valerius enters to him and Marcus, to announce to the former :
'the Decemvirate entreat
Your voice in this day's Senate,'
to which Appius replies :
'We will attend the Senate,
Claudius, begone.
[Exeunt VALERIUS and MARCUS CLAUDIUS.
Enter OPPIUS and SENATORS.'
In this case the mountain has come to Mahomet since we must now
suppose the scene has changed to the senate-house while Appius has
remained on the stage all the time1. Again in Act 111^ Scene 2, which
to begin with is a street, Virginia enters with Corbulo and is seized by
Marcus Claudius with four lictors : soon after Icilius and Numitorius
enter, and in a short time Appius, who on being appealed to for justice,
instead of adjourning, calls
' Stools for my noble friends. — I pray you sit 5
1 Hazlitt, in his edition of Webster, 1857, makes a new scene begin with the entrance of
the Senate.
8 The Authorship of 'Appius and Virginia'
as if the place were a chamber. Such a change of the locale while
several characters remain on the stage is usually indicated by their
walking round the stage (i.e. those acting in the first scene, by this
circumambulation, really enter to the actors in the next, not the reverse
as here). Twice at the end of scenes (there may be more which a
student of dramatic psychology might observe) occur passages which
are quite irrelevant. This is especially noteworthy at the conclusion of
Act in, Scene 3, a short scene in which Marcus praises Appius' policy
and Appius asserts his confidence in its success, to which the client
replies :
' Mercury himself
Could not direct more safely.'
Appius immediately and irrelevantly continues the dialogue :
'0 my Claudius,
Observe this rule ; one ill must cure another ;
As aconitum, a strong poison, brings
A present cure against all serpents' stings.
In high attempts the soul hath infinite eyes,
And 'tis necessity makes men most wise.
Should I miscarry in this desperate plot,
This of my fate in aftertirnes be spoken,
I'll break that with my weight on which I'm broken.'
There has been no set-back to Appius' success : I suggest that here we
have Webster's attempt (note the medical and zoological lore and the
lack of association between the thoughts as well as a close resemblance
to a passage in Ben Jonson, one of Webster's favourite authors) to
heighten what seemed to him too tame. Again at the end of Act ill,
Scene 2, which has already been noticed as suspicious (see above), after
Appius withdraws, seemingly enraged at Marcus whom he has ordered
to be committed a prisoner to his own house to ensure his appearance
as appellant, Icilius and Virginia are left alone :
* Icilius. Sure all this is damned cunning.
Virginia. 0, my lord,
Seamen in tempests shun the flattering shore ;
To bear full sails upon 't were danger more :
So men overborne with greatness still hold dread
False seeming friends that on their bosoms spread :
For this is a safe truth which never varies,
He that strikes all his sails seldom miscarries.
Icilius. Must we be slaves both to a tyrant's will,
And [to] confounding ignorance, at once ?
Where are we, in a mist, or is this hell ?
I have seen as great as the proud judge have fell :
The bending willow yielding to each wind,
Shall keep his rooting firm, when the proud oak,
Braving the storm, presuming on his root,
Shall have his body rent from head to foot :
Let us expect the worst that may befall,
And with a noble confidence bear all.'
ARTHUR M. CLARK 9
These remarks are not at all, in sense or verse (or grammar), like the
rest of the scene. They have no obvious connexion with' what has gone
before or with each other. I offer as a tentative suggestion that these
lines are a cento, made by some reviser of the play from a much longer
interview between Icilius and Virginia, and without much care to assign
the right remarks to their respective owners : a dialogue in which
Virginia advised a policy of apparent submission and Icilius argued for
the reverse, which is supported slightly by Virginia's exclamation earlier
in the same scene :
' 0 my Icilius, your incredulity
Hath quite undone me.'
This remark is quite meaningless as the play now stands : we hear
nothing before of Icilius being too credulous (?of Appius) or incredulous
of her warnings. It may be that a sub-plot, woven around the opposing
plans of Virginia and Icilius to circumvent Appius, has been lost.
Another fact, hitherto unnoticed, is that two persons, Julia and
Calphurnia, appear in the list of dramatis personae ; but they appear
only once and say nothing. I believe this silence indicates another cut,
probably soon after Act n, Scene 1, where Virginia bids Corbulo :
'Sirrah, go tell Calphurnia I am walking
To take the air : entreat her company ;
Say I attend her coming : '
the encounter might have given us a scene like the visit of Valeria to
Volumnia and Virgilia in Coriolanus.
As in all Heywood's acknowledged plays, there are several Shake-
spearean echoes. The writer was undoubtedly influenced by the
severity of Coriolanus : the camp scenes in Appius and Virginia and
the trouble with the plebs are specially worthy of comparison. I have
already noted the clown's reminiscence of Falstaff. The interview
between Icilius and Appius (Act n, Scene 3) recalls Hamlet's visit
to his mother after the play scene : one might cite the lines, spoken
by Icilius :
' Sit still, or by the powerful gods of Rome
I'll nail thee to thy chair : but suffer me,
I'll offend nothing but thine ears. 9
Appius. Our secretary !
Icilius. Tempt not a lover's fury ; if thou dost,
Now by my vow, insculpt in heaven, I'll send thee —
Appius. You see I am patient.'
The line,
'This sight has stiffened all my operant powers,' (Act v, Scene 3.)
also recalls Hamlet :
'My operant powers their function leave to do.' (Act in, Scene 2.)
10 The Authorship of Appius and Virginia'
(Hamlet was a special favourite of Heywood's : there are at least four
imitations in A Maidenhead Well Lost.) Dyce has noted the debt to
Julius Caesar :
'To that giant,
The high Colossus that bestrides us all.' (Act in, Scene 1.)
From Othello comes a single phrase :
'Had your lordship yesterday
Proceeded, as 'twas fit to a just sentence,
The apparel and the jewels that she wore,
More worth than all her tribe, had then been due
Unto our client :' (Act iv, Scene 1.)
and one, either from Coriolanus or the induction to 2 Henry IV:
'The world is chang'd now. All damnations
Seize on the hydra-headed multitude,
That only gape for innovation.
0, who would trust a people!' (Act v, Scene 3.)
Heywood's indebtedness to Shakespeare is no mere fancy: I could
quote many passages, not a few scenes, some motifs, and perhaps a few
characters, more or less directly borrowed. Webster, on the other hand,
is not influenced in his dialogue to anything like the same degree by
his greater contemporary. Sidney, Jonson, Marston, the satirists, and
especially Donne, as Mr Brooke has pointed out, are the persons from
whom he purloined and whom he plagiarised verbatim, whereas Hey wood,
like the writer of this play, speaks Shakespeare because he cannot help
it, and perhaps does not know it. Webster's borrowings are of an
aphoristic character.
The following list supplements and adds to Mr Brooke's examination
of the vocabulary of Appius and Virginia which in this respect I can
confidently assert is nearer to The Rape of Lucrece than to any other
drama1.
'Confine' in the sense of 'banish,' 'exile' (A. and V. v, 3). Brazen Age 211,
Apology for Actors (' The Author to his Booke'), Hierarchy 74, Golden Age 41.
* Obdure' (A. and V. iv, 2), an adj. meaning 'obdurate' or, more generally, ' hard.'
This rare Latinism occurs in Pleasant Dialogues 114, TvixiiKflov 46, 362, 393, 435,
Silver Age 144, Hierarchy 312, 365, 498, Love's Mistress 138,. Brazen Age 171.
' Obdure ' as a verb, Hierarchy 82.
' Obdure-hearted,' which is not in N.E />., is in TwaiKclov 353.
1 I do not give occurrences of the words already given by Mr Brooke, but such
additional and therefore confirming examples ab I have noticed.
The following were the editions used : for the plays, pageants and the Pleasant
Dialogues, The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood, 6 vols., Pearson, 1874; The
Hierarchy of the Blessed Angels, London 1635, fol. ; rWt/cetov, London, 1624, fol. ;
Apology for Actors, Shakespeare Society reprint, 1841 ; Britain's Troy, London, 1609 ;
England's Elizabeth, Harleian Miscellany; Nobody and Somebody, Tudor Facsimile Texts,
ed. Farmer, No. 76, 1911. The numbers refer to pages unless in prefaces, etc., where no
pagination is found.
ARTHUR M. CLARK 11
'Palped' (A. and V. m, 1), 'perceptible by touch.' Mr Brooke says there are
only three known instances of this word : the two others are both from Heywood.
But I have found another instance, also Heywoodian, in Hierarchy 27 :
' So void of sens' ble light, and so immur'd,
With palped darknesse.'
' Deject' (A. and V. I, 1) in its literal sense. Fair Maid of the West 405 :
' Upon a poor dejected gentleman
Whom fortune hath dejected even to nothing,'
Royal King 24, 25, 43, 71, Silver Age 91, Four Prentises 167, 168.
' Dejected ' = ' deposed' occurs in Nobody and Somebody, which was certainly
pretty thoroughly revised by Heywood, Sig. d1? e2, hj. ' Dejection,' Fair Maid of the
West 392, Golden Age 39. ' Dejectednesse,' Royal King and Loyal Subject 15.
'Prostrate' (A. and V. i, 3, twice) is used by Heywood both as an adj. and as a
verb with the same rare metaphorical meaning as here. As a verb Fair Maid of the,
West 403 :
'Behold, w'are two poor English gentlemen,
Whom travell hath enforc't through your Dukedom,
As next way to our countrey, prostrate you
Our lives and services.'
If you know not me, etc. 196 :
'Gracious Queene,
Your humble subiects prostrate in my mouth
A general suit,'
and as an adj., A Royal King, etc. 64 :
'My prostrate duty to the king my Master
I here present.'
76-7: 'Saw your Majesty
With what an humble zeale, and prostrate love
He did retender your faire Daughters Dower1?'
' Infinite' (A. and V. I, 3), 'infinite in number' : very unusual. It was a special
favourite of Hey wood's, and in addition to Mr Brooke's citations, I adduce Hierarchy
25, 83, 362, 394, 481, 537, TwaiK€lov 133, 203, 280, 316, Londini Speculum 310,
Challenge for Beauty 8, 28, Iron Age 284 :
' He and Hecuba,
My nine and forty brothers, Princes all,
Of Ladies and bright Virgins infinite.'
'Invasive' (A. and V. i, 3) :
' The iron wall
That rings this pomp in from invasive steel.'
Mr Brooke notes the repetition of the phrase ' invasive steel ' in Golden Age 40 ; but
'to ring' is also a Heywoodian usage, cf. Lu-crece 242 :
' if thou front'st them, thou art ring'd
With million swords and darts.' , 0
' Mediate ' = ' beg on somebody else's behalf,' or a similar sense is very rare (A.
and V. n, 1) :
'You mediate excuse for courtesies.'
447, Fortune by Land and Sea 374, Pleasant Dialogues 277, Londini
Sinus Salutis 296.
'Infallid' (A. and V. n, 3) :
'Upon my infallid evidence.'
N.E.D. gives only two other examples of this very rare word of which one is
12 The Authorship of'Appius and Virginia1
Hierarchy 308 (v. John Webster and the Elizabethan Drama], It occurs twice else-
where in Hierarchy 285 :
'Th' infallid testimonie...
Of the most sacred Scriptures.'
311 : 'And to give infalled testimonie of their faith.'
It will be noted that all the occurrences of the word in Heywood and the example
from Appius and Virginia relate to evidence.
'Thrill' (A. and V. iv, 2):
'Let him come thrill his partisan
Against this breast.'
Cf. Brit. Troy xm, § Ixx :
'He thrild a lavelin at the Dardan's breast.'
Pleasant Dialogues 301, Twa.iK.eiov 223.
' Novel '(A. and F. iv, 2):
' Marshal yourselves, and entertain this novel
Within a ring of steel.'
Cf. Hierarchy, argument to Book 8; 28, 508, 611, TwatKclov 134, 356, Brazen Age
210. ' Novelty' in the same sense occurs several times in Heywood.
'Ave' (A. and V. v, 3):
'One reared on a popular suffrage
Whose station's built on aves and applause.'
I have no other instance to add but note the parallel to the quotation, Silver Age 95 :
' With like applause and suffrage shall be scene
The faire Andromeda crown'd Argos queen.'
'Strage' (Lat. 'strages') (A. and V. v, 3)-:
'I have not dreaded famine, fire, nor strage.'
In the later form of Mr Brooke's essay on Appius and Virginia, a foot-note says the
earlier version had about a dozen more examples of this word than the two in the
text. It may be useful to give the examples I have noted : Pleasant Dialogues 111,
143, 343, Hierarchy 54, 89, 163, 230, 276, 436, 492, 511, 569, 589, 605, Twai^lov 441,
lus Honorarium 271, Londini Status Pacatus 371, 373.
To Mr Brooke's list I add the following :
' Imposturous ' (A. and V. iv, 1) :
'And verily
All Rome held this for no imposturous stuff.'
This rare word is found in The Woman-Hater but not in Shakespeare. Cf.
Hierarchy 289 :
'Further to speake of his impost'rous lies,'
308, 468, TwaiKfiov 103 ' I will therefore shut up all their imposturous lies in one
short... truth,' Silver Age 112.
'Lust-burnt' (A. and V. v, 3) :
'Redeem a base life with a noble death
And through your lust-burnt veins confine your breath.'
The only example of this rare compound in N.E.D. is from Silver Age 143 :
' The lust-burn'd and wine-heated monsters.'
' Lust-burning,' the nearest to it, is found in Sylvester. The word is, however,
common in Heywood. The English Traveller 58, The Rape of Lucrece 222, 236,
241, Brazen Age 180. It is worthy of remark that ' confine '=;' banish,' also in the
above quotation, is almost exclusively Heywoodian.
ARTHUR M. CLARK 13
'Manage' (A. and V. I, 3 and in, 1) :
'Are you the high state of Decemviri
That have those things in manage?'
and : ' I'll leave it to thy manage.'
This usage is, of course, not confined to Hey wood, but it is very typical of him.
Cf. Fair Maid of the West 316 :
'The manage of the fight
We leave to you.'
Silver Age 95, The Rape of Lucrece 210.
'Motion' (A. and V. 11, 2 and in, 2) :
"Tis a motion (i.e. proposal)
Which nature and necessity commands.'
'I think the motion's honest.'
I give this common Elizabethan word merely because of its frequency in Heywood
who seems never to use any synonym for it. Fair Maid of the West 308, 320, If you
know not me, etc. 252, 261, 263, Pleasant Dialogues 181, Hierarchy 550, TwaiKclov
120, 121, 130, 142, 143, 2G2, 448, 460, English Traveller 45, Wise Woman of Hogsdon
289, Londini Speculum 309, The Late Lancashire Witches 177, England's Elizabeth
310, 322, Iron Age 307, 393, 399.
'Comrague' (A. and V. iv, 2) :
'Comrague, I fear
Appius will doom us to Actaeon's death.'
Dyce says he had several examples of this word, but mislaid all but the case in the
Lancashire Witches of Heywood and Brome £44 :
'Nay, rest by me,
Good Morglay, my comrague and bed-fellow.'
N.E.D. lists this example under 'comrogue.'
'Enthronise' (A. and V. iv, 2) :
' Let him come thrill his partisan
Against this breast, that through a large wide wound
My mighty soul might rush out of this prison,
To fly more freely to yon crystal palace,
Where honour sits enthronis'd.'
The whole passage, at a venture, one would say, came from Heywood's Ages. I don't
know of any occurrence of 'enthronise' (cf. Raleigh's History of the World 1614,
' Now inthronized he sits on high In golden Palace of the starry skie ') in Heywood,
but the termination ' -ise ' is a common means of making a verb in his work, e.g.
eternize,' ' etimologise,' ' monarchise,' ' metarnorphise,' ' merchandize,' ' peculiarize.'
'Impart' (A. and V. v, 3) :
' Grieves it thee
To impart (i.e. to share in) my sad disaster?'
Not in Shakespeare : cf. Fortune by Land and Sea 398 :
' I am likely to impart his loss,'
404, English Traveller 63, 68, Four Prentises 194, Pleasant Dialogues 17 4, m Silver
Age 95.
'Opposite' (A. and V. in, 1) :
' If you will needs wage eminence and state
Choose out a weaker opposite.'
Very common in Heywood, Royal King, etc. 55, 55, If you know not me, etc. 195,
197, A Woman Killed ivith Kindness, 130, Apology for Actors 44, Hierarchy 12, 202,
Lucrece 192, Challenge for Beauty 14, 23, 35, England's Elizabeth 315, 330, Iron
Age 299, 320, 341, 362.
14 The Authorship of'Appius and Virginia '
' Opposite to ' = ' opposed to.5 Londini Speculum 314.
* Opposite ' = ' hostile.' Royal King 6, 6, Hierarchy 268, 497, TwaiKelov 330, Iron
Age 370, Golden Age 74.
'Eegreets' (A. and V. in, 1) :
' Yet ere myself could reach Virginia's chamber,
One was before me with regreets (i.e. fresh greetings) from him.'
In Shakespeare only in sense of 'greeting' : of. Fair Maid of the West 419, Iron
Age 329.
' Scandal,' as a verb (A. and V. in, 1) :
'Know you the danger what it is to scandal
One of his place and sway.'
In Shakespeare : common in Heywood, e.g. Fair Maid of the West 378, Edward IV
177, A Maidenhead Well Lost 105, 105, 119, 151 (Nobody and Somebody Sig. e2).
' Statist' (A. and V. i, 3, and in, 1) :
' To you the statists of long-flourishing Rome,'
and: 'for your private ends...
Against that statist, spare to use your spleen.'
Only twice in Shakespeare: twice also in England's Elizabeth 314, 330.
'Torved' (A. and V. v, 3) :
'but yesterday his breath
Aw'd Rome, and his least torved frown was death.'
All the derivatives of Lat. * torvus ' are very rare and obsolete. ' Torvity ' occurs in
Londini Speculum 307 ' wherein hee might behold the torvity and strange alteration
of his countenance.'
Many of these words, if taken singly, would prove nothing ; but the
fact that all of them are found in Heywood's works, some frequently, is
an almost incontrovertible argument for his authorship. There are
many others which go to make up the Heywoodian word-hoard, but are
less peculiar to him, e.g. ' aspire ' = ' aspire to/ ' back ' = ' to ride upon/
' beautify/ ' censure/ ' distaste ' = ' to express dislike of/ ' inhabit ' = ' to
dwell/ ' insculpt/ ' lift ' = ' lifted/ ' mount ' = ' to- raise/ ' to pleasure/
' suspect ' = ' suspicion/ ' fame ' = ' to make famous/ ' interpose ' = ' to
intercept/ ' to slave ' = ' to enslave/ ' to siege ' = ' to besiege/ ' to sad '
v.t., ' to wage ' = (i) ' to pay wages to ' and (ii) ' to wage war with/
' ague ' = ' to make tremble with fear/ ' to cashier/ ' satiety ' = ' satisfac-
tion/ etc. The only really uncommon words which I have not found in
Heywood's acknowledged works were ' to concionate ' = ' to harangue '
(it occurs in a remarkably Heywoodian passage, Act V, Scene 3),
' to oratorize - in the same passage (Heywood has ' to orator ' in English
Traveller 68 : see also ' enthronise ' above) and ' Panthean ' (' all you
Panthean gods/ Act n, Scene 3 : Heywood has ' enthean ' (Hierarchy 25),
' Hymenean ' (TvvaLicelov 337, 338)). In any case Heywood has a
long list of aVaf Xeyo/-tez>a, and these three, all of them formed on
analogies similar to his, are rather favourable than the reverse to the
ARTHUR M. CLARK k 15
claim for his authorship. Practically all the compounds, of which there
are many in Appius and Virginia, — Heywood was an inveterate
compounder while Webster was not — either appear in Heywood's
undoubted plays and compilations, e.g. ' new-reap'd,' ' short-liv'd,' ' lust-
burnt/ ' trindle-tale ' ; or are formed on the models from which he
worked, e.g. ' sweet-toothed,' ' true-bred,' ' sharp-pointed ' (cf. ' sweet-
tuned/ ' sweet-featur'd,' 'true-hearted,' ' true-stampt,' 'true-breasted,'
' shallow-witted/ ' thick-leav'd,' * thin-fac'd,' etc.), 'bondslave-like' (cf.
'horse-like,' 'subject-like,' 'star-like/ 'sphere-like,' etc.), 'long-flourish-
ing' (cf. 'long-neglected,' 'long-continued,' ' long-liv'd/ 'long-sided/
etc.), 'hydra-headed' (cf. 'hare-hearted,' 'horse-tricks'), 'sword-proof
{cf. 'star-spangled,' 'silver-coloured,' 'soul-vext,' ' sayle-winged,' 'state-
quaking,' etc.).
Not much can be deduced from the syntax of the play. As was
noticed above, the sentence structure is much less co-ordinative and
broken than Webster's, being indeed indistinguishable from Heywood's.
There are one or two mannerisms which are peculiarly Heywoodian.
The first we might call the ' imperative hypothesis ' (A. and V. II, 2) :
'Sound all the drams and trumpets in the camp
To drown my utterance, yet above them all
I'll read our just complaint,'
and (A. and V. II, 2):
'Show but among them all so many scars
As stick upon this flesh, I'll pardon them.'
Cf. English Traveller 21 :
' Ope but thy lips againe, it makes a way
To have thy tongue pluck'd out,'
etc. etc.
Heywood very frequently omits 'neither' : A. and V. ill, 1 :
'Where Appius nor his Lictors, those bloodhounds,
Can hunt her out.'
Cf. Londini Speculum 314 :
' Masking nor mourning cannot change their tone. '
English Traveller 73 : *
'Sir, sir, your threats nor warrants can fright me.'
Royal King 53 :
' Thy teares nor knee shall once prevaile with us.'
The use of the reflexive instead of the personal pronoun is also like
Heywood: A. and F.-ii, 3, 'ere herself could study Her answer,' in, 1
' ere myself could reach Virginia's chamber.' But more convincing to me
16 The Authorship of 'Appius and Virginia'
are such passages as the following, which there is hardly any possibility
of assigning to another than Heywood :
* Or if the general's heart be so obdure
To an old begging soldier, have I here
No honest legionary of mine own troop,
At whose bold hand and sword, if not entreat,
I may command a death ? ' (iv, 2.)
Or:
' Where should a poor man's cause be heard but here ?
To you the statists of long-flourishing Rome,
To you I call, if you have charity,
If you be human, and not qufte given o'er
To furs and metal ; if you be Romans,
If you have any soldier's blood at all
Flow in your veins, help with your able arms
To prop a sinking camp : an infinite
Of fair Rome's sons, cold, weak, hungry, and clotheless
Would feed upon your surfeit.' (i, 3.)
The play nearest Appius and Virginia in source, unlocalised
anachronistic setting, characters and style is, as has already been said,
The Rape of Lucrece. Mr Brooke has noted the quite extraordinary
parallel to the non-payment of the soldiers and its consequences in
A Maidenhead Well Lost, but he does not quote the most remarkable
passages : cf. A . and V. Act i, Scene 3 :
' 0 ! my soldiers,
Before you want, I'll sell my small possessions
Even to my skin to help you ; plate and jewels,
All shall be yours.'
with M. Well Lost 113 :
'even for griefe,
That he could neither furnish us with pay
Which was kept back, nor guerdon us with spoile,
What was about him he distributed,
Even to the best deservers, as his garments,
His Armes, and T^nt.'
and 115 :
'All his Gold and lewels
I have already added, yet are we still
To score to souldiery.'
and 109 :
' We understand that by this negligence
He has beene put to much extremity
Of Dearth and Famine, many a stormy night
Beene forc'd to roofe himselfe i' th' open field,
Nay more then this, much of his owne revenue
He hath expended, all to pay his Souldiers.'
In Act Hi, Scene 4, Corbulo says, ' The Lord Appius hath committed
her to ward, and it is thought she shall neither lie on the knight
side, nor in the twopenny ward ; for if he may have his will of her, he
means to put her in the hole ' (various divisions of a prison) : cf. Fair
Maid of the Exchange 24 :
ARTHUR M. CLARK 17
* Cripple. What, sirra, didst thou lie in the Knight's ward, or on the Master's
side?
Bowdler. Neither, neither, yfaith.
Cripple. Where then, in the Hole 1 '
The conclusion I would come to is that the play was plotted and
written by Heywood and as a companion piece to The Rape of Lucrece,
after the appearance of Coriolanus. There may be a reference to
Chapman's The Widdowes Teares in Corbulo's remark, ' Of all waters
I would not have my beef powdered with a widow's tears ' (in, 2). The
obscurity of part of the action precludes the possibility of Webster's
collaboration at the outset : but later by order of the company he
hastily revised it, making several cuts and only roughly sewing the
jagged edges together, for the task was not much to his liking. He
seems to have excised entirely any scene in which Julia and Calphurnia
spoke, simplified, without making more intelligible, the plot by removing
what could only have been a sub-plot of Icilius and Virginia to delude
Appius, and shortened at the expense of clarity the meeting of Icilius
and Appius at the latter's house, besides introducing two accounts
conflicting with each other and the facts. Webster had a partiality
for law-suits and probably the difference from Heywood's usual style
in the court scene in Appius and Virginia is due to the former's
remodelling and retouching. Moreover his hand is traceable in the pre-
liminary hearing of the suit, especially in Appius' description of Marcus :
'But will you truly know his character?
He was at first a petty notary ;
A fellow that, being trusted with large sums
Of honest citizens, to be employ'd
I' th' trade of usury ; this gentleman,
Couching his credit like a tilting-staff,
Most cunningly it brake, and at one course
He ran away with thirty thousand pound...
...he hath sold his smiles
For silver, but his promises for gold ;
His delays have undone men.
The plague that in some folded cloud remains,
The bright sun soon disperseth ; but observe,
When black infection in some dunghill lies,
There's work for bells and graves, if it do rise.' (in, 2.)
The dishonest advocate, one of Webster's bug-bears, i» probably also
his introduction (he does not appear in Painter or Livy) in the court
scene, and I believe that Act v, Scene 1, in which this person re-appears,
is Webster's also. Mr Brooke has already drawn attention to traces of
his style in Act I, Scene 1 : nor, I am sure, is his touch wanting in
minor details elsewhere. But the revisal was incomplete and hurried :
the bulk of the play is Heywood's alone.
EDINBURGH. ARTHUR M. CLARK.
M.L.R.XVI. 2
THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH HEROIC PLAY.
IT is generally recognised by competent critics that the post-
Restoration drama simply continues and develops the habits of the
Caroline drama. Certain allowances must be made for the exercise of
new influences and for certain new theatrical conditions. French influence
has been asserted and denied again and again, but I hope to show that
a certain definite French influence is incontestable. Alterations in the
shape of the stage, the introduction of scenery, the appearance of female
actors, and the far-reaching influence of the new opera must be taken
into account, but the main elements of the Heroic Play, the heroic
personae dramatis, the love-interest, and the point of honour, are as
clearly seen in the plays of Goffe or Cartwright or Carlell as in those of
Orrery or Dryden. It is principally in form and in the employment of
mechanical contrivances on the stage that the post-Restoration drama
is original.
In both these respects it is usual to look to Davenant as the pioneer.
The Siege of Rhodes is an important document, but its importance as an
influence is questionable. It exhibits, no doubt, the earliest expression
of heroic material in rhyme, but it must be noted that the verse is not
mainly heroic. The couplet appears, but the staple is lyrical. It is worth
while to notice, too, that Davenant was not an enthusiast for the heroic
couplet, even for non-dramatic uses, and employed in his Gondibert the
so-called heroic quatrain. It would have been a strange irony if the
contemner of the couplet for its natural employment had succeeded by
his example in establishing it for its least appropriate use in the drama I
In spite of this, however, The Siege of Rhodes is interesting to us. It
indicates the strong heroic tendency of the age, and in an interesting
passage of the preface casts a light upon the ' Heroic Play ' (perhaps the
earliest use of the phrase) as a protest against the domestic comedy and
tragedy of the Elizabethans.
It is not only in literature that we find this reaction against the
Bartholomew Fair of everyday life. The societies that grouped them-
selves around the Duchess of Newcastle and Mrs Katherine Philips
illustrate the same process. Mrs Philips, who becomes ' the matchless
Orinda,' will interest us later, so she deserves our chief attention here.
She and her friends seem to have created for themselves an ideal world,
MERVYN L. BOSTON 19
based on the most lofty ideas of virtue and friendship, rejecting their
everyday names and titles to become Sylvanders and Ardelias, Antenors
and Lucasias. It is small wonder that, in the literature cultivated by
these circles, a dramatist should claim the liberty of ' drawing all things
above the ordinary proportion of the stage as that is beyond the common
words and actions of human life ' (Dryden, Of Heroic Plays). Heroic
literature is simply the reflection of the endeavour to realise the Heroic
ideal in actual life.
When we leave the Heroic Temper and come to the problem of form,
there is less unanimity. We must all admit the necessity for the
abandonment of the blank verse of Suckling and Carlell, but there is
not much agreement as to the circumstances and causes of the adoption
of rhyme. Mr Gosse, in his XVIIth Century Studies, argues for the
priority of Etheredge. ' As a point of fact/ he says, ' Dryden was the
first to propose, and Etheredge the first to carry out, the experiment of
writing plays in rhyme.' Now Dryden's preface to The Rival Ladies is
dated 1664, The Comical Revenge belongs to the same year, so we may
take it that Mr Gosse dates the introduction of rhyme from 1664.
Unfortunately for his argument, an essay on ' the matchless Orinda ' in
the same volume relates the story of the completion by the middle of
October 1662, and the performance in Dublin in the following February
of her rhymed translation of Corneille's Pompee. Writing in the M.L.R.
of January, 1917, Mr Montague Summers speaks of the priority of Roger
Boyle as having been established by quite recent research. I do not
know to what research Mr Summers refers, but Orrery's claim was
known to Dr Johnson. ' The practice of making tragedies in rhyme,' he
says, 'was introduced soon after the Restoration, as it seems by the Earl
of Orrery, in compliance with the opinion of Charles the Second, who
had formed his taste by the French theatre.' There is also the
evidence of Dryden's dedication of The Rival Ladies to the Earl of Orrery
in which, though Mr Gosse seems to have missed the point in referring
to it, the poet supports his argument in favour of rhyme by an appeal
to his Lordship's practice. 9
The actual date at which Orrery began to write plays in rhyme is
determined by a passage in his State Letters (2 vols., Dublin, 1745). He
writes to the Duke of Ormonde, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, from
Dublin, January 23, 1661/2 :
May it please your grace,
When I had the honour and happiness the last time to kiss his majesty's
hand, he commanded me to write a play for him. I did not scruple therein to
evidence my great weakness, since thereby I did evidence the greater obedience ; and
2—2
20 The Origin of the English Heroic Play
therefore, some months after, I presumed to lay at his majesty's feet a tragi-comedy,
all in ten feet verse and rhyme. I writ it in that manner upon two accounts, first
because I thought it was not fit a command so extraordinary should have been
obeyed in a way that was common ; secondly, because I found his majesty relished
rather the French fashion of writing plays than the English. I had ju«t grounds to
believe, at least fear, that my play would have been thought fitter for the fire than
the theatre, but his majesty's mercy having condemned it to the latter, and then
giving it to be acted by Mr Killigrew's company, my old friend, Will. D'Avenant,
appeared so displeased his company missed it, that nothing would reconcile me to
him but to write another purposely for him. Therefore this last and this week
having gotten some few hours to myself from my public duties, I dedicated those to
please my particular friend, and wrote this unpolished draught of two acts.... The
plot is such that I wish you could but as much like the rest of the play as I flatter
myself you will like that, when by the finishing of what is begun you will know it.
And that your grace may have some guess at it, I will tell you here, that Acores is
Romisa in disguise... The humour of Hilas, of which your grace will see some touches
in the beginning of the second act, shall be interwoven, if your grace dislike it not,
in every one of the three remaining, though I despair to make my Hilas as famous
on the theatre as the marquis of Urfe has made his in the romance ; for besides his
genius being exceedingly above mine, his Hilas was not limited to numbers and
rhyme as mine is....
Writing again on February 26, we find Orrery saying 'I have presented
about a fortnight since to your grace the whole play.'
It appears, then, that in February 1661/2 Orrery had written two
plays in rhyme. His visit to London was extended at any rate to
December 1660, as one of his letters shows, so the first play in all
probability dates from 1661. In February 1662/3 Charles writes (State
Letters as before) expressing his intention to produce the play ' as soon
as my company have their new stage in order, that the scenes may be
worthy the words they are to set forth.'
The King's House (the Theatre- Royal in Drury Lane) was opened
on the" 7th May, 1663, according to Pepys, but we have no record of the
production of any play by Orrery in that year. In a letter to the King,
the author speaks of the second play as superior to the first, ' the plot,
humours and discourses being more proportionate to the genius of those
who frequent the theatre.' The General is the first play by Orrery we
know to have been performed at the King's house (September 28, 1664)
and it was certainly a failure, being described by Pepys, in words re-
miniscent- of the author's own, as utterly inferior ' in words, sense and
design' to Henry the Fifth, produced by Davenant a month earlier.
The identification of this with the first play is hazardous, as Orrery may
conceivably have written two bad plays for Mr Killigrew. The second
play is certainly lost, for there is no known play which corresponds ta
the description given to Ormonde, so we have a precedent for assuming
the loss of the first.
Whatever the fate of these early plays, Orrery was not discouraged.
MERVYN L. POSTON 21
Reckoning the two lost plays we find that he contributed nine examples
of the Heroic Play, and by the volume of his work, no less than by the
popularity of some of it or by his personal example, exercised a great
influence upon his contemporaries. The dedication of The Rival Ladies
(1664) indicates Dryden's willingness to follow his leadership; Sir Robert
Howard's preface to Four New Plays (1665) recognises in him the chief
force in the new movement, while six years later, John Crowne dedicates
to Orrery his first play, Juliana, or the Princess of Poland with a fulsome
panegyric of Mustapha and Henry the Fifth. More convincing than the
flattery of dedications is the sincere imitation in the use of rhyme. We
have already alluded to Dryden's The Rival Ladies, to Etheredge's The
Comical Revenge and to Mrs Philip's Pompey. Of these the last is the
most interesting to us, being the earliest of the three and the only one
entirely in rhyme. It is not without significance that this play was
shown to Orrery when only one scene had been translated, that it was
at his instigation that the work was completed, and that it was finally
by his influence that it was produced at the Smock- A] ley Theatre in
Dublin in February, 1662/3.
By a curious coincidence, while Orinda was preparing her Pompey,
another version of the same play was being made in England. One act
and the original plan were due to Waller, who made a point of translating
some portion of each new play by Corneille, and among his collaborators
are named Sedley and, Dorset. The success of Orinda's play postponed
the publication of this translation, but it saw the light in 1664, over a
year after the announcement that it was completed and about to appear.
One feels a certain satisfaction in connecting Waller, ' an obstinate lover
of rhyme to the very last,' with the rise of the Heroic Play, whose vogue
he supported not only in this but in his rhymed alteration of The Maid's
Tragedy, and a similar moral certainty with regard to Denham, who
shares with him the credit for the refinement of our numbers, is vindicated
by his use of rhyme in one scene of The Sophy as early as 1641 and by
his completion of Mrs Philip's Horace.
In the rather pathetic figure of Lodowick Carlell tfce development
of the Heroic Play is epitomised. In his youth an execrable botcher of
blank verse, the recipient of a dedication from Thomas Dekker, and an
exponent of the Heroic temper in drama, in his later years he accepts
' the troublesome bondage of rhyming.' Carlell's plays were praised by
Ward and Mr C. H. Gray has edited The Deserving Favourite. Another
American, Professor Schelling, writing in the Cambridge History of
English Literature, assures us that Carlell's Heraclius met with great
22 The Origin of the English Heroic Play
success, though not equal in merit to other translations from Corneille.
I do not know from what source Professor Schelling derives his opinion
of the merit of the play, but even if it was not possible for him to consult
the text he might have learnt from the Biographia Dramatica or from
Genest that Carlell's play was never acted, another version by an un-
known author being preferred for the performance on the 8th March,
1664. Carlell's play was printed in the same year. The references to
the Duchess of Orleans and to the Queen Mother in the advertisement
are especially important : ' Though my humble respects to her Royal
Highness prompted me to undertake a translation in verse, because she
loves plays of that kind, and is as eminent in knowledge as in dignity,
yet I presume not to beg her protection; only as it took birth at
Sommerset House, I hope she will not despise it from the report of others.
For my most gracious Mistress whome I have so long serv'd, and in
former Playes not displeas'd, I dare not address this, because my first
essay of this nature.'
In these earliest rhymed plays certain features must be noticed.
Orrery, speaking of rhyme, calls it the French manner, while Carlell,
Waller and Orinda use rhyme in translations from Corneille. Again
Orrery and Carlell adopt this manner in frank deference to the opinions
and taste of the Court, Waller and Orinda because they move in the
aristocratic circle of Court influence. No doubt the personal taste of
the monarch, or mere imitation of the French, will not explain the vogue
of rhyme, but, while we appreciate the importance of those circumstances
which made the adoption of rhyme seem necessary and desirable, we
must not ignore the channels by which the new form came to England.
MERVYN L. POSTON.
BELFAST.
CAMBRIDGE FRAGMENTS OE THE ANGLO-
NORMAN 'ROMAN DE HORN.'
IT is gratifying to learn that we shall not have to wait much longer
for a new critical edition of the Anglo-Norman Roman de Horn1, which
has been a desideratum for many years. The material on which it will
have to be based includes, besides the three well-known manuscripts of
Cambridge (C), Oxford (O), and London (H), some unedited fragments
copied by me long ago, the intended publication of which, delayed by
adverse circumstances, appears now to be urgent. They are all in the
Cambridge University Library and marked Add. 4407 and Add. 4470.
I. Add. 4407, which I propose to call F1, consists of two small frag-
ments, measuring 41 x 165 mm. and 47 x 130mm., of a manuscript on
vellum, both cut out of the same sheet and containing altogether 21 lines.
The text is in two columns, and the handwriting that of the end of the
thirteenth century. The recto of the sheet originally contained 2 x 38
lines, the verso 2 x 39 lines. The recto consisted of:
col. a: 11. 2106— 21102 (preserved; fragment a) '
11. 2111—2143 (missing)
blank part (preserved ; fragment b)
col. b: 11. 2144 — 2148 (preserved; fragment a)
11. 2149—2181 (missing)
blank part (preserved ; fragment b).
The verso consisted of:
col. a: 11. 2182—2186 (preserved; fragment a)
11. 2187—2219 (missing)
1. 2220 (preserved ; fragment b)
col. b: 11. 2221—2225 (preserved; fragment a)*
11. 2226—2258 (missing)
1.2259 (indistinct traces of clipped letters preserved;
fragment b).
1 See P. Studer, The Study of Anglo-norman, Oxford 1920, p. 28.
2 The numbering of the lines is that of Brede and Stengel's edition (Das anglonorman-
nische Lied vom wackern Eitter Horn] in Stengel's Ausgaben undAbhandlungen,vin, Marburg,
1883.
*
24 Cambridge Fragments of Anglo-Norman 'Roman de Horn
F1 has not been the basis of COH, for it has some lines which are
too short or too long, while they are correct in COH : see 11. 2107 (— 2),
2110 (-2), 2223 (+1). On the other hand F1 is not derived either
(1) from C, see 11. 2186, 2221, also 2183, or (2) from O, see 11. 2106,
2184 (0: - 1), or (3) from H, see 11. 2106 (H: + 2), 2146 (H : - 1), 2186,
2223 (H: — 2). While F1 has no mistakes in common with C or O or
CO or CH, it has with H: see 11. 2106 (ore for or), 2220 (ches for esches),
and with OH: see 1. 2182 (ariuez for ariue). Hence we get the follow-
ing stemma1:
X
I
It follows that readings which F1 and C have in common presumably
occurred in X1; such as F1 and O have in common may be derived from
X1 or only from y and must be carefully weighed against readings of C ;
such as F1 has in common with CO or with CH presumably occurred in
z, y, and X1 and have therefore a high claim to consideration ; such as
F1 has in common with OH probably go back to y, but not necessarily
to X1 ; readings which F1 has in common with H against CO are to be
rejected, as they probably only go back to z.
In the following text of F1 (a) and (b) the letters printed in square
brackets are indistinct.
FKAGMENT a.
r°] [e] pus sil harez tant cum ore lestes amant. 2106
col. a. a tant sen est munted al alferant.
e nuers la mer trestut dreit fud sun chemin tenant.
en tur lui sunt uenu trestuit si bien uoillant.
Qwi de Suddene uindrerct el chalant. 2110
col. b. Sire dist li esturman ne vus iert pas cele. „ • 2144
Vers Westir uoil aler qm est regne loe. 2145
1 amaiwt un riche rei qui Gudreche est nume.
d ous fiz ad cheualers de mitlt grant large.
c heualers qui la uunt bien isunt soldeie.
1 See below, p. 26, and J. Vising, Studier i denfranska romanen om Horn, i, Goteborg,
1903, pp. 4ff.
E. G. W. BRAUNHOLTZ 25
v°] Qwant sunt ariuez issent fors al terral. 2182
col. a. .H. sen est eisuz al nobile caral.
JJ [uer] fud hyrlande. fu lors Westir numee.
V la nef ariuad qwi .H. out aportee. 2185
I 1 eissid as premiers facun out bien mollee
col. b. e nuers (\u\ sen preist nul ueintre nel piwroit. 2221
e ntritant .H. li proz tut lur chemin teneit.
S is cheuals iert mult beals de suz luj grant brut feseit.
e il iert bien a[rmez lescus] bien li seeit.
B ien senblout cheualer. v horn fier sei deueit. 2225
v°] FRAGMENT b.
col. a. laltre juout as ches q [tu horn] 2220
II. Add. 4470. Two fragments of another manuscript on vellum,
handwriting of the early part of the fourteenth century, which I propose
to call F2 a and b. They were used as fly-leaves for the binding of a
printed book, which was bought for the Cambridge University Library
by the librarian, Mr F. J. H. Jenkinson (who kindly called my attention
to it;, at Sotheby's Miscellaneous Sale, June 15, 1897. The ^Catalogue of
the sale describes the book as follows :
259. Dionysius Carthus. Quattuor Novissima. Delff, 1487. — Dathus (Aug.) de
variis loquendi figuris [part of an unknown book] Antwerpie per me Matthiarn
Goes, s. a. 4to. Contemporary oak boards, stamped leather.
*#* Four leaves of an ancient Romance in barbarous French used as fly-leaves.
The four fly-leaves (eight pages) contain in single columns
(1) on recto 34 lines (4944—4980)
on verso 32 lines (4981—5013)
(2) on recto 32 lines (5014—5047)
on verso 34 lines (5048—5082)
(3) on recto 33 lines (5149—5180)
on verso 34 lines (5181—5213)
(4) on recto 34 lines (5214—5245) ,
on verso 5 lines (5246 — 5249)
Total 238 lines.
The missing sheet between 2 and 3 contained 66 lines (11. 5083 — 5148).
At the beginning of a new laisse room is left for an initial to be
painted by the rubricator; the letters which were to be inserted are
faintly traced by the scribe.
The fragments begin at that point of the romance where Horn, after
26 Cambridge Fragments of Anglo-Norman 'Roman de Horn'
avenging the death of his father and reconquering his realm, meets his
mother who had been hiding in a cavern. In the following night he
dreams that Rigmel is threatened by Wikle, and he prepares to go to
her rescue. Then the poet relates Wikle's treason, which is disapproved
by his brother. Wikle decides to murder him, but his brother flees and
goes to Hunlaf, to whom he tells Wikle's designs. Here the first frag-
ment ends. At the beginning of the second fragment, while Wikle sits
at the wedding banquet with Rigmel, his brother hastens to the strand
anxious to hear news of Horn. Horn is just arriving, and informed by
Wikle's brother of Rigmel's desperate plight, he sets out with his faith-
ful ones disguised as jongleurs. They ask to be admitted to the palace
and then take by surprise and kill Wikle and his men.
A comparison of F2 with O, the only other manuscript in which the
concluding portion of the romance is preserved, shows that neither was
derived from the other, but that they both go back to a faulty copy
(X1) of the original (X). That O is not, directly or indirectly, a copy
of F2 is proved by the following facts. Lines which seem to be required
by the context are omitted in F2, but not in O: 5043, 5078 (the non-
occurrence in F2 of 11. 4985, 5017, 5250, is no conclusive evidence, as
these lines may possibly be additions made by the scribe of 0). In other
cases two or three lines, which are complete in O, have been contracted
into one in F2, the scribe's eye having obviously wandered from a word
in the first line to the same word in the following or second following
line : 11. 4959, 4961 ; 4970, 4971 ; 5035, 5036 ; 5203, 5204. Twice the
proper order of lines, while preserved in O, is reversed in F2 : 11. 5037 —
5039 and 5052 — 5054. Also the metre of certain lines is wrong in F2,
but correct in O : 4951 (- 1), 4952 (+ 2), 4958 (+ 1), 4965 (+ 1), 4975 (bad
caesura), 4981 (+ 1), 4982 (- 1), 4990 (+ 1), 5011 (- 1), 5019 (+ 1), etc.
Similar facts show that 0, though written by a more careful scribe
than F2, was not, directly or indirectly, copied by the latter. Necessary
lines or parts of lines which are preserved in F2 are omitted in O : see
especially 11. 5171 b, 5233 b, 5243 (11. 5045 b, 5181 b, 5192 b may be
additions made by the scribe of F2). There are also lines metrically
wrong in O, but correct in F2 : 4948 (- 1), 4983 (+ 1), 4986 (+ 1), 4991
(+ 1), 5005 (+ 1), 5013 (- 1), 5019 (4- 1), 5020 (- 1), etc.
That both O and F2 go back to a copy (X1) which was not the auto-
graph (see above, p. 24), seems to be confirmed by 1. 5196, where both
have the probably erroneous reading le instead of se.
The four sheets of F2 have not belonged to either of the now incom-
plete manuscripts C and H, for while F2 has 32 — 34 lines to a page.
E. G. W. BRAUNHOLTZ 27
C has only 24 (see the fac-simile in Brede and Stengel's edition), and
H 46 (see e.g. folio 60 on pp. 78 ff. of the same edition).
In the following text only one form of r is used, while the scribe
uses two : generally (and especially after o, d, b, p) the form i, less
frequently the form r. He practically always uses the long form of s (f) ;
the short form occurs only once (in 1. 5187 : palais). The contraction s>
has been expanded into com or con : there seemed to be no reason to
abandon the usual value of the contraction, as the closed o sound is ex-
pressed in F2 by o as well as by u, cf. couent 1. 5059, conust 1. 5151,
commence 1. 5218, cosin 1. 5228, by the side of cunut 1. 4947, cum 1. 4955
etc., cunqms 1. 5015, cumpaigmrrcs 1. 5174. The contraction p has been
expanded into per in peril 1. 4986, perir 1. 5156, empereur 1. 5192, other-
wise into par (e.g. part 1. 4973, aparceit 1. 4976, partut 1. 5010, pardune-
merat 1. 5058, esparnement 1. 5210).
Even at the time when F2 was written, there was a hole in the
parchment of the second sheet, which divides the text of 11. 5026 — 5029
and 5059 — 5063 at the places indicated by the sign H1.
1 r°] Par mi tut ce que ele ert poureme?it cowree. 4944
Dan hardre la vit ben si lad mult auisee.
Ces clers oiz esun vis esa buche ad notee.
Ben cunut que ce ert sa damee lonure.
Pus est venu a horn dit li ad en celee.
Vosfre mere uei la que auez ci amenee.
Ce est swanburc la gentil ma dame la loe. 4950
Ne sai dampnedeu la nus ad si tensee.
Mes ore pensez veer que ele seit ben co?iseille.
Horn sailli sus enpez vers li c^rt randunee.
Sil enbraca vers lui e cent feit lad baisee.
Sil lad tantost cum pot en la chambre guie. 4955
V ele fu noblement custee ebaignee.
E apres fu de dras haltemewt acesmee.
E ala feste fu pus noblement celebree.
Tut pur lamw delui la valdur esforce. 4959, 4961
Qwant ele fu asa dame en la chambre assenble. 4962
La feste ad este grant tute ior aiornee.
Tresque la que vint la nuit apres la vespre.
Lores sen vnt tuz cucher pur fere reposee. 4965
1 As F2 is temporarily at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, I was not able, as I should have
wished, to collate several lines of my copy, which I suspected. Miss M. K. Pope has very
kindly done so for me.
28 Cambridge Fragments of Anglo-Norman 'Roman de Horn1
E la reyne en vait en sa chambre est cuchee.
E li reis ensemerct od sa noble maisnee.
q want la miemrit vint que li reis sendormeit.
Si vit vn auisiun dimt formewt se cremeit.
Qidl ert sur vn flum bele Rimel ueeit. 4970, 4971
Es granz vndes bruianz tresq^al mentuft tut dreit. 4972
Wikele ert del altre part qui naier la voleit.
Vne furke defer ensa main si teneit.
Dunt la butout enz si cum ele sen isseit. 4975
E en grant angoisse ert nrnlt qwant ille aparceit.
Si li criout enhalt e amidt grant espleit.
Sil tost ne la saisast qitil le compareit.
Cil-ne laisseit pur ce plus mal li feseit.
Mwlt ert torment dolent qwant aider ne poeit. 4980
1 v°] Lores trouout vn batel v il enz se metteit.
Equant ovtre ert venuz esil sen fueit.
Pur le doel quil out grant apres fort lensiwait.
E qwant il out ataint la teste li toleit. 4984
Eissi bele Rimer de peril garisseit. 4986
E ali pur eel plai grant merci len rendeit.
p vr le sunge ki ert gref li reis sen esueilla.
Tant en fu effree que pwr veir le qwida.
II se seait sur sun lit e entwr sei garda. 4990
Mes il bele Rimer ne wikele ni troua.
Bunt sout que ert auisiun qui en dormant veu a.
Qid giseit deuant lui haderof apela.
E sun sunge trestut cum il fu lui conta.
Eqwant il out oi si sen esmerueilla. 4995
Pus respundi issi si deu plest bien irra.
Mes de wikele succrem qwil alqitone rien fra
Vers madame Rime dunt ele se maira.
Par ma fei dist li reis nrmlt crei ben que si va.
Apres dit que tresqwe ert iur quil se aprestera. 5000
E as neff trestut dreit od sa gent en irra.
Kar Rime/ uolt veer iaplws ne targera.
En la garde hardre sun regne si larra.
Entretant que il vienge sa mere enseruira.
Kar asun repaireir Rimer en amerra. 5005
Haderof qwant lout oi tuz ses diz ben loa.
Vnc ni out plus dormi de ci quil aiorna.
E. G. W. BRAUNHOLTZ 29
Tresque il uirent le iur li reis horn se leua.
E al palais halcur ses baruns assembla.
t Eesque partut li iur eli reis fu leue. 5010
Dunt sunt libarim el paleis assemble.
E li reis Iur ad tut descouert sun pense.
Trestut entel semblant cum vus ert ia mustre,
2 r°] Seignwrs ce dit li reis deus nus seit aoure.
Pa?- laie dem*s ai cunqms mun regne. 5015
A ceus qui munt serui ai mes terres done. 5016
Par le men escient ne dei estre blasme. 5018
Des ore mest ben auis que mult ai suiurne.
Si reuoil or errer ce est ma volente. 5020
Pur Rimer amener ia nert plus targe.
Mun pais gardera entritant dan hardre.
Ema mere swanburc seruira asun gre.
Seignwrs venez od mei pur la mei amiste.
Ne sai que en conterai vers plusurs sui fae. 5025
Ne ne sai ben || de ci cum hunlaf erfc troue.
Kar quers ch||angent suuent qwant gent sunt esloyne.
fur ce est || demener od sei bel barne.
Qml ad || tel cum iol ai issi alose.
Si trouuns el pais par trestut seurte. 5030
E nws le prendruw ben si en ert deu loe.
E si nus trouuwt el si seit sempres venge.
Or en aluw as nefs ia nert mes tresturne.
E ore iparra seign^rs cum vus mavez ame. 5034
Sire ce dient tuz ia nert commande. 5035, 5036
Issi ad li reis horn feit sun aprestemeftt. 5037
Or le conduiez deu li rei omnipotent. 5039
En ses nefs est entre ored ad ebon vent. 5038
Qwil ad feit de wikele redinrw enpresent. 5040
Kar nen fet aceler le soen con tenement
Cum il vers sun seign^r ad erre foleme?it • 5042
Qwi ren ne li custa sil despent largement 5044
Vn chastel ad ia feit bel efort durement \
En vn fort liu lad fet depere edecement. j
De partut iad trait mult grant garnissement. 5046
Cum de vin ede char de fore e de forment.
2 v°] Cheualers retent mult eserianz ensement.
Kar il volt ahunlaf senz su?z otrieme?it.
30 Cambridge Fragments of Anglo-Norman 'Roman de Horn'
Tut parforce tolir RimeZ od le cors gent. 5050
Si la prendra aper ce ert sun pwrposement.
Mes vn frere q?.dl out en erra lealment. 5052
Sen aparceit qwil voleit errer folement. 5054
Wycohther aueit nun en sun baptemement. 5053
A lui vint si lui fist issi chastiement. 5055
Que feiz desue as tu mis en vblie me/it.
Que feis ahunlaf le grant encusement.
Dunt horn par sa bunte vus fist pardunement.
Simes forfeiz vers lui ben || ensez le couent.
Nel te pardurra mes ne || deit fere nent. 5060
Mai iendeit auener qid vers \\ sun seignwr prent.
Sifais qui as enpense tu mwr||ras veriement.
E ce abon dreit iel sai a || escient.
Treitre ert e felun si ie vus icest consent.
Quant wykele oust cest oi purpoi de dol ne fent. 5065
Jamais le ne serra sil nen ad vengemewt.
La nuit mwrdrir le fra ce ad enpensement.
Que ne sache horn mot ce est sun entendemerat.
m Ais sil par sun senblant sen aparcut asez.
Asun ostel ala tresq^e fu auesprez. 5070
Coiment est mult bien deses armes armez.
Sur le destrer meillur qui\ aueit est muntez.
Par la posterne eissi qui esteit vers les prez.
Vnc horn nel aparcut qwi de mere fu nez.
Issi est del felun cum deu volt eschapez. 5075
Tute nuit ad erre vnc sis cors nest finez.
. Tresqwil vint la ov mist reis hunlaf lonwrez. 5077
V esteit dune li reis ases consels priuez. 5079
Had trait vne part des altres esloignez. 5080
Mande ifu Rime£ od ses grandes bealtez.
Qwant ele ivint dit lur fu emustrez.
3 r°] Sila put dehorn rien nuueleR. 5149
E quant est la venuz uit la flote sigleR. 5150
Ben conust paries trefs que ce ert horn libeR.
II ne suttt gueres loinz pres sunt del ariueR.
Nen sen pot abstenir epur els plus hasteR.
Sest il mis enz anod kar ille volt encontreR.
Si se haste vers horn pur lui noueles conter. 5155
Ne crent de perir tant se fiet el destreR.
E. G. W. BRAUNHOLTZ 31
E qwant horn lout veu feit sa barge geter.
E si ad dit as sons cist hoera ad grant mester.
Je irrai ia centre lui noueles demandeR.
E sil ad mil bosoing si lui voldrai aideR. 5160
Atant gettent batels partut li marineR.
E vers terre sen wnt cum plus poent nageR.
Celui cuillent acels pres ert del perilleR.
Mes quant il fu enz trait ni donast vn deneR.
Ainz ad horn mustre elemal elencombreR. 5165
Que sis freres ad feit aRimer alvis cleR.
Si li prie pur deu quil sen auge tost vengeR.
Qwil le trouera ia seant asun mangeR.
V il se feit seruir de piement ede vin cleR.
E dan horn li respunt vnout que curuceR. 5170
Certes ie serrai ia si ie pus sun iugleR. 5171
Vn lai bretun li frai od mespee de asieR.
n ert pasla cite loin vhunlaf ert al iuR. 5172
horn iuolt aler tut ape acel tuR.
Cumpaignuns amenad cent qui rrmlt sunt de valuR.
Harpes portent asqwanz vieles li plusuR. 5175
Ce volt li sire horn quil senblent iugleuR.
Halbercs vnt forz vestuz dunt clere est lalu^r.
Si vnt les chapes desus dediuerse coluR.
Les bons branz ceinz aslez cum vassal deredduR.
Ja la grant ieie wykele tw-rneruwt adoluR. 5180
3 v°] Elur chant que refunt finerunt entristuR. 5181
Ben se vengera horn desun mal traituR.
De Rimer edelui quil volt partir lamuR. 5182
Issi deit avener tut dis aboiseuR.
Kar vnc be?i ne fina qui tricha sun seignuR.
Encestui pwrrez ben estre espermentur. 5185
Els venent al porter prient liparducur.
Qwil les lait entrer enz el palais halcuR. ^
Si ert par nosfre deduit li seruice forceuR.
Asqwanz seuent de harpes asqwanz sunt bon retuR.
Tels iad qui de chant sunt si bon chanteuR. 5190
Ja qwis orra chanter ne se tendra depluR.
Par fei dit li porters teus nad li empereuR. 5192
Sus eel nad nobles hoem qui de teus nait honwr.
Or entrez beu seignwr plus nert contreditur. 5193
32 Cambridge Fragments of Anglo-Norman ' Roman de Horn '
m es idunc entra horn eli soen baldemerat.
Qid awykele e as soens fra itel present. 5195
Durct le tendru^t tut mat curecus edolent
Vnc asnoces nout nul peior iuglemewt.
El palais su^t entrez venent elpaueme/it.
Veient wikele seer al plus halt mandement.
Juste lui bele Rimer qui face cler resplent. 5200
Lores sen marrist dan horn ecel irusemewt.
Les chapes sachent tost qui lur fuwt musement. 5202
Par laire sunt chaet quel part nul dels cure neprent. 5203, 5204
Es halbercs su?it remis trait sunt librant trenchant. 5205
Par ces tables vunt seruent els malemeftt.
Tut de el que de bons mes ne mestre piement.
Kar nul ni est ataint q^il ne fet sanglent.
Qwe par wykele sewt ne qui seit desa gent.
Mes lagent hunlaf cil vnt esparnemewt. 5210
Ehorn veit vers wykele manacant format.
Tel lidona el chef que trestut le pwrfent.
Pus le feit fors sacher cum mastin pullent.
4 r°] Eprendre aquarefurs que seit esgardement.
Sulunc que aserui sun seruise lui rent. 5215
q vis del traitor est la sale voidee.
Ad reis horn deses nefs sa gent tute mande.
Equant il su^t venuz lafeste est comercce.
Qwi tuz les qwinze iurs noblement ad duree.
Mustre lad ahunlaf cum lachose est alee. 5220
Cum il ad vassalme/it sa terre p^rchacee.
Ecum il ad depaens sa guere finee. 5222
Ela ioe q^il out desa mere trouee.
De qwanqidl out fait ne li fu chose celee. 5223
Pus la feste sen wnt chascun ensacowtree.
Ni ad vn qui nen ait de horn riche soldee. 5225
E apres ad Rimer asun pere laisse.
E il ad en westir lores sa veie twrnee.
A SUTI cosin modun qui est rei definee.
Ad il bele lenburc par richesce donee.
El laltre ad sis compaignuws haderof espuse. 5230
Od sa terre trestute quil li fu otrie.
De gudrike le rei qui sa vie ad mue.
Pus que la chose fud tute si pur alee. 5233
E. G. W. BBAUNHOLTZ 33
Enbretayne revint aRimer lonure.
E iloc suiurna tant cum li agree. 5234
e Ntritant desuiur cum il la suiurna. 5235
Le vaillant hadermod de Rimer engend?-a.
Qid aufrike cowqwist eqid pus iregna.
E qwi tuz ses parenz de paens iuenga.
De proesse ede sens trestuz les utreia.
Cum sil pwrra mustrer qwi lestorie saura. 5240
Icest leeis amu?i fiz willemot quil dirra.
Qwi la rime apres mei sai ben que entrouera.
Kar troueur ert bon de mei ce retendra.
Ore reuenuws ahorn diu??s cum il sen ala.
En sudeine lagrant sa muiller en mena. 5245
4 v°] E mult grant tens od lui bone vie mena.
Tant cme richesse grant la savie fina.
Or endeit auant qwi lestorie saura.
Thomas new dirra plus tu autem chantera. 5249
Issi finist dehorn. AmeN.
On the margins of the pages of F2 single words and sentences of no
importance are scribbled by various hands and drawings of leaves and
ornaments sketched. On 2 r° we find the note : pertinet iste liber vni
Rudbignoruw. On 2 v° the following two hexameters are written :
S R preposita, vox nulla latina sonabit.
Israel s re sonat ; quia dictio barbara, stabit.
At the end the following riddle has been scribbled :
Freit est de yuer 1'oree.
Vn diuinail vos ert mustre.
En yuer qwant 1'oree chaunge,
Viie uerge crest estraunge,
Verge sanz verdour,
Sanz foil et sanz four (' branch ').
Qz^ant vendra 1'este,
La verge done n'ert troue.
yat redeles, red uuhat it my be ; c'est vn esclarcil (perhaps : icicel ?) en engleys.
E. G. W. BRAUNHOLTZ.
CAMBRIDGE.
M.L. R. XVI.
AN ANGLO-NORMAN POEM BY EDWARD II,
KING OF ENGLAND.
EDWARD II is one of the most pathetic figures in English history.
The tragedy of his downfall has thrown into relief his checkered and
inglorious career. But it has also awakened the sympathy of posterity
with a man unfitted by training and temperament to wield the destinies
of a kingdom. His utter failure in strategy and statecraft, his lamentable
lack of tact and common sense have been duly emphasized. On the other
hand, his love of sport and his devotion to his friends have not been
overlooked. But too little has been made of one of his redeeming points,
his taste for art and music. It is true, a man may be endowed with
poetic genius and none the less turn out to be a very bad king. His
talent does not relieve him from the grave responsibilities he has incurred,
it does not absolve him from incompetence, and less still from weakness
and cowardice. But it kindles in our hearts a keen sense of grief that
such a man was placed by fate in a position for which he was so utterly
unsuited.
Edward II valued more highly a skilful fiddler than an able minister
of state. He forsook his peers and revelled in the society of minstrels,
strolling players and other men of low repute. He soon acquired their
vices of gambling and hard drinking. But, on the other hand, he shared
their enthusiasm for the lighter forms of art, and took some pains to make
himself proficient in music and verse. All this has long been common
knowledge, but little opportunity has hitherto been afforded us to test
the merit of his achievements. This is not very surprising. The songs
with "which the king and his boon companions heightened their mirth,
or dispelled the gloom of a cheerless reality, were doubtless never com-
mitted to writing. Both words and melodies perished with their authors,
not leaving behind them even a lingering echo. Indeed it is almost
a miracle that of the songs composed by Edward II one at least should
have been preserved. It is a song of sorrow, the last probably he ever
sang ; and he must have sung it with a heavy heart.
Fabyan, in his New Chronicles of England and France1, after relating
the circumstances of the deposition of the king, adds :
1 Ed. H. Ellis, 1811, pp. 430-32.
PAUL STUDER 35
Than Edwarde thus remaynynge in pryson as fyrste in the castell of Kenelworth,
and after in the castell of Barkle, took great repentaunce of his former lyfe, and
made a lamentable complaynt for that he hadde so grevously ofFendyd God ; whereof
a parte I have after sette out but not all, leste it shulde be tedyous to the reders or
herers.
Dampnum mihi contulit tempore brumali
Fortuna satis aspera vehementis mali.
Nullus est tarn sapiens, mitis, aut formosus,
Tarn prudens virtutibus, ceterisque famosus,
Quin stultus reputabitur et satis dispectus
Si fortuna prosperos avertat effeetus.
Theyse, with many other after the same makynge, I have seen, which are
reportyd to be of his owne makynge in the tyme of his enprysonement ; the whiche,
for lengthe of tyme, I have lefte out of this werke, and shewed the effecte of them
in Englysshe, as folowyth.
Whan Saturne with his colde isy face
The grounde with his frostys turneth the grene to whyte,
The tyme of wynter which trees doth deface
And causyth all verdure to a voyde quite :
Than fortune, whiche sharpe was with stormys not alyte,
Hath me assautyd with hir frowarde wyll,
And me beclypped with daungeours right yll.
What man in this worlde is so wyse or fayre,
So prudent, so vertuose, or famous under thayre,
But that for a foole, and for a man despysed,"
Shalbe take, whan fortune is from hym devyded ?
Alas now I crye, but no man doth me moone,
For I sue to them that pytye of me have noone.
Many with great honours I dyd whylom advaunce,
That nowe with dyshonoure doon me stynge and launce ;
And such as some tyme dyd me greatly feere,
Me dyspyse and let not with sclaunder me to deere.
0 mercyfull God, what love they dyd me shewe !
And with1 detraccion they do me hacke and he we.
Alas, moste synfull wretche, why shulde I thus complayne,
If God be pleasyd that I shulde thus2 susteyne
For the great offence before by me doone?
Wherefore to the good Lorde I wyll retourne efte soone,
And hooly commytte me thy great mercy untyll,
And take in pacyence all that may be thy wyll ;
And all onely the serve with all dylygence.
Alas ! that before this tyme I had not that cence.
But nowe good Lorde, which arte omnypotent,
Beholde me mooste wretchyd and greatly penytent ;
And of my trespace forgyvenes thou me graunt,
And by what sorowe my carkes is now daunt, 0
Graunt it may be to my sowle remedy,
That the sooner I may attayne3 it by :
For to the swete Jhesu I yelde my4 sore wepynge,
As aske of the pardon for my grevouse synnyuge.
Most blessyd Jhesu
Roote of all vertue,
Graunt I may the sue
In all hurnylyte ;
1 MS. Now with. 2 MS. this. 3 MS. thy grace atteyn. 4 MS. me.
3—2
36 An Anglo-Norman Poem by Edward II, King of England
Sen thou for our good
Lyste to shede thy blood,
And stretche the upon the rood
For our iniquite.
And thou moost mylde mother and vyrgyn most pure,
That barest swete Jhesu, the worldys redempture,
That shynyst and florysshed as flowre moost sure ;
And lyke as nardus of his swete odoure,
Passyth all other, so thou in all honoure,
Surmountys all sayntis, by thy great excellence,
Wherefore to praye for my grevouse offence1.
I the beseche,
Moost holsome leche,
That thou wylte seche,
For me suche grace. *
That2 my body vyle
My sowle shall exyle,
Thou brynge in short whyle
It in rest and solace.
Fabyan's account is disappointing. Not a word is said about the
document in which the song was preserved. We are not even told
in what language it was written. From the chronicler's ambiguous
wording we might almost infer that Edward wrote it in Latin, if we did
not know from other sources that he \vas so ignorant of that language,
that at his coronation he had to take his oath in the French form.
Fabyan purposes to give an English version of part of the king's poem,
but he fails to grasp the meaning of certain passages, and where he
understands aright, he drowns the author's simple style in flowery and
pedantic language. It is fortunate for the king and for Anglo-Norman
poetry that his literary reputation does not rest solely on the evidence
of this translation.
The Anglo-Norman original has been preserved in a unique MS.
of the Longleat Collection. For the purpose of this edition Lord Bath,
the present owner, very generously placed the MS. at my disposal.
I take this opportunity to express to him my sincere gratitude. The
MS. is mentioned in the Historical MSS. Commission Report, vol. in,
p. 180, but the account given of it is so inaccurate that a fresh description
will not be superfluous3. It is usually referred to under the title of
Tractatus varii Theologici saec. xni et xiv, and consists of a bound
volume, octavo size, containing 170 folios of vellum. The handwriting
belongs clearly to two different periods. The Latin texts which make up
the bulk of the volume are in an early thirteenth century hand, while
1 These seven lines are omitted in edit. 1542.
2 that when, edit. 1533, 1542, 1559.
3 In the Report all the Latin items are wrongly described and I suspect that the
accounts of various MSS. have been confused.
PAUL STUDER 37
the French texts have been added on blank pages and in margins
during the first half of the fourteenth century, certainly not later than
1350. The following are the principal items :
Fol. 1 is torn in half from top to bottom. The recto is blank ; the verso
contains Anglo-Norman Proverbs, those near the bottom of the page
alone being complete : e.g. ' II valdroit plus de refuser que d'estre
refused Celuy fait malement qe prent le repas de un jour qe li fra perdre
cent, etc.' These proverbs are continued at the foot of the next folio.
Fol. 2 r°. A Latin Homily : ' Dilectus meus misit manum suam per
fenestram ac ventu1 meus conturbatur quia adtactum eius Bonum est... '
Fol. 6 r°. An Anglo-Norman Lapidary : ( Coment horn deit conustre
peres precioses.' This will be included in the edition of A.-N. Lapidaries
which I am preparing in collaboration with Miss J. Evans.
Fol. 9 r°. A Latin Homily : ' Nichil amarius peccato et si quidam
videantur dulcia in primis. Unde Salomon in novissimis felle amarius
invenies peccatum...'
Fol. 21 v° at the bottom of the page and in the margin, an Anglo-
Norman Dialogue on the Ages of Man : ' Ore agardetz danz vayllards |
Jolite de ceste part, etc.' (36 lines).
Fol. 33 r°. A Latin treatise entitled Brevis Hortulus, chiefly in prose,
but fols. 36 v° to 40 r° are in verse. It consists of 81 chapters. Chap. I
begins, ' [VJidetur in deum cadere necessitas rerum faciendarum../
The explicit after the table of contents [fol. 33 v°] runs as follows :
' Explicit libellus qui potest dici Brevis Hortulus eo quod breviter in eo
tamquam in ortulo fructus dulces excerpantur.'
Fol. 41 r°. A Latin treatise entitled Speculum [de Mysteriis] Ecclesiae.
'De sacramentis ecclesiasticis ut tractarem. . .' (cf. ~M.igne,Patrolog.vol. 177,
pp. 335 sq.).
Fol. 57 r°. A Latin treatise entitled De Compunctione Cordis. ' Cum
te intueor Beate Demetri frequenter insistentem mihi et omni cum vehe-
mencia exigentem de cordis compunctione sermonem admiror valde...'
Fol. 76 v°. An Anglo-Norman poem by King Edward II.
Fol. 77 v°. Chastel de leal amour, an Anglo-Norman poem of 75 lines,
beginning : ' Du chastel d'amurs vus demaund | Qele est luy primere
foundement | D'amer lealment...' There are at least four other MSS. of
this poem which shows the obvious influence of the Roman de la Rose
(cf. P. Meyer, Bull. Soc. d. anc. textes fr. 1875, pp. 26, 30, and Romania
xin, p. 503).
Fols. 78 v° and 79 r°. Blank.
1 Vulgate, Cant. v. 4 : ' per foramen et venter meus intremuit ad tactum ejus.'
38 An Anglo-Norman Poem by Edward II, King of England
Fol. 79 v°. De la Diffinission de Amur, in A.-N. prose, beginning :
' Amur est seignur de lui mesmes E ne est al comandement de nuly ne
al priere ne al consail de nuly...'
Fol. 80 r°. Verba domini ad Abbatem, a collection of Latin sermons
beginning: ' Egredere de terra et de cognitione (= cognatione) et de domo
patris tui et valde (= vade ?) ad terram quam monstravero tibi1...'
Fol. 143 r°. A Latin Treatise beginning: ' Triplex est divine scripture
cognitio secundum historiam, allegoriam, et tropologiam. Historia est
res gesta...'
Fol. 1 56 r°. Salomon in proverbiis, Latin version of proverbs ascribed
to Salomon/ Aqua frigida anime sitienti nuncius bonus de longinqua terra.
Omnesprelati ecclesie tarn superiores quam inferiores...'
Fol. 170 is a fragment out of a service book bound up with the
present volume. It tells the life of some Saint and refers to the burial of
Abbess Sexburgh, the wife of Earconbert ' rex cantuariorum,' whose
sepulchre was found at Grantacester.
The poem of Edward II occupies folios 76 v° and 77 r°. It is written
in double columns and from the nature of the handwriting it would seem
to have been transcribed before 1350. Nevertheless it is not possible to
assume that we have it in the king's own hand. There are unmistakable
indications that the version in the Longleat MS. is the copy of a scribe
and not an autograph. The rubric alone makes this sufficiently clear. But
whoever the scribe may have been, he was a contemporary of the king, and
his testimony, even though it be not absolutely conclusive, must at all
events be accepted as strong evidence in favour of royal authorship.
Professor Tout has suggested to me that the poem may have been
written by one of the king's friends and utilised in the active propaganda
which was carried on — apparently with a considerable amount of
success2 — to arouse popular sympathy with the deposed monarch and
facilitate his restoration. But however plausible such an explanation
might seem, it is not borne out by internal evidence. The tone of
the poem, the line of arguments, the touches of deep personal feeling
unmistakably stamp the work as genuine.
It bears obvious signs of Provencal influence. In form and style
it has all the characteristics of the canso. It opens with a reference to
the season of the year, and ends with an envoy. After the fashion of
1 Gen. xii, 1 : * et veni in terram quam monstrabo tibi.'
2 For a detailed account of the activities of the king's sympathisers, the reader is
referred to Professor Tout's monograph on The Captivity and Death of Edward of Carnarvon,
Manchester University Press, 1920. Appendix II contains an interesting note on the poem.
PAUL STUDER 39
troubadours, the poet addresses his song to a lady1 whose real name
he conceals under the senhal of 'La Bise,' i.e. 'The Doe.' If due
allowance is made for the uncertainty of scansion in later Anglo-Norman
poetry, the versification is very regular. All the stanzas are built on
a uniform pattern and run on two rhymes each, and these rhymes
are much purer than those of contemporary Anglo-Norman works.
It is true that we find -e rhyming with -ie, e.g. esprove : preyse (= prisie)
4 : 6, encumbrer (= encumbrier) : pener 14 : 16. On the other hand
original ei is always written oi and rhymes with itself or with etymological
oi (cf. stanzas iv and viii), the only exception being merci :otroy 38 : 40,
where -oi appears to rhyme with -i ; or should we read otry ? As
one might expect, the number of syllables is not constant, at least if
judged by continental canons. The bulk of the verses are octosyllabic,
but lines varying from six to ten syllables are also found, and some of
them at least can hardly be the result of faulty transcription. In other
respects, however, the poem compares favourably with the fourteenth
century products of Northern France. It is free from their mannerism
and artifice, and possesses a directness of speech and an accent of deep
sincerity which they seldom exhibit.
In the time of Edward II Provengal literature had passed the zenith
of its splendour. In fact the exuberant growth of troubadour poetry
showed, signs of decay even before the crusade of Simon de Montfort
ruined its haunts and chilled its inspiration. But before the work of
destruction was complete, the poetic leaven of Provence had permeated
Western Europe, and called into existence the lyric vein of Italy and
Spain, of Northern France and England. Ever since the days of Queen
Eleanor troubadours found appreciative audiences among the Normans
settled in this country, and counted among their disciples kings and
princes. In his devotion to poetry Edward II continued the traditions
set up by his illustrious predecessor Richard Coeur-de-lion and those
which his mother2 brought from Castile, where Proven9al art had found
a second home. The king's song is a rare and valuable specimen of
Anglo-Norman lyric poetry. In addition it possesses artistic merit and
real historic interest ; it is therefore well worthy of an edition.
I have found it necessary to introduce a few corrections, but in such
cases the reading of the MS. has always been recorded in the footnotes.
Minor alterations are indicated by means of brackets ; words and letters
1 Even with the assistance of Professor Tout's authority and learning I have not
succeeded in identifying the lady to whom the king dedicated his poem.
2 The influence of Eleanor of Castile was probably not very considerable as she died
when Edward of Carnarvon was only seven years old.
40 An Anglo-Norman Poem l>y Edward II, King of England
between ( ) should be suppressed, those between [ ] should be added.
For the benefit of those who are not familiar with Old French I have
added an English translation which renders the meaning almost verbatim,
but does not attempt to reproduce the rhythm of the original nor the
harmonious effect of its rhymes.
DE LE Roi EDWARD LE Fiz Roi EDWARD, LE CHANSON
QE IL FIST MESMES.
I.
1 En tenps de iver me survynt damage,
Fortune trop m'ad traverse :
Eure m'est faili tut mon age.
Bien sovent l[e]ay esprove :
5 En mond n'ad si bel ne si sage,
[Ne] si curtois ne si preyse,
Si eur(e) ne lui court de avantage,
Que il ne serra pur fol clame.
n.
Ma clamour face, mes rien n'ataint :
10 A cel(uy) que grace ne puit trover,
Terrien amur [est] tost esteint.
Ne me deveroye trop aflfier !
Les grans honurs ay fest a meynt
^ Qe ore me queront encumbrer ;
15 Poy sui ame et meins pleint :
En fort prison me font pener.
III.
Pener me funt cruelement —
« E duint qe bien 1'ai deservi.
Lour fausse fai en parlement
20 De haut en bas me descendi.
(Hay !) sire de salu, jeo me repent ;
(Et) de toutz mes mals vus cri merci :
Ceo qe le corps soufre de torment,
Soit a 1'alme joie et merci.
19 MS. faus.
PAUL STUDER 41
IV.
25 Merci me ert, si com(e) je croy,
[Et] les honurs et les bontez
Qe a mon poair so vent fesoy
A mes amys et mes privetz.
Si je ey(e) mesfet, ceo poise moy :
30 A lor consayl estoie jurez.
Ceo qe ai mesfet encontre ma foy,
Beii sire Dieu, vus le savez.
V.
Vus le savetz apertement,
Car mil n'est si bien covery,
35 Qe ne le voyetz tut clerement :
Le bien le mal tut altresi ;
Solom ceo freetz jugement.
Mes mals la rnene ou (e) ta merci !
(E) de moy facez vostre talent,
40 Car quoer et corps a vous otroy.
VI.
A vus me octroy, sire Jhesu,
Pardon et grace requerant.
Jeo solay estre tant cremu,
Ore me vont toutz despisant :
45 L'em m'apele ' rois abatu/
Et tut le secle me veit gabant ;
Mes plus privetz me unt desu :
Trop tart le vey apertemant.
VII.
Apertement me unt defy[?],
50 Les quels me unt issi tray ;
Moud lur quidai estre amis,
Ore me ount tutz degerpi. 0
Je lur donay meint juel de pris,
Que ensi le me ount mery ;
55 Je ay le plur et eaux le rys,
M'est avys le ju (est) mal parti.
38 MS. Mes melles la. 40 read otry ? 48 MS. le ay.
49 MS. Aperteynant ; instead of defy we should expect a word in -is.
51 MS. amez.
42 An Anglo-Norman Poem l>y Edward II, King of England
VIII.
Parti me ount un-ju santz joye.
Par tiel(e) tristour mi quoer se pleynt
De cele en qi trover quidoye
60 Femme leal : vers moy se feint.
Isabeux tant amay, la bloye !
Mes or(e) 1'estencele est esteint
De fyn amur ; pur ceo ma joie
S'en est ale, com est de meint.
IX.
65 Meintenant santz delay
Bien serroit tenps de morir,
A moy cheitif que perdu ay
Tutz honurs sanz recuverir.
Alias ! dolent ! pur qei m'emay ?
70 Puis q[ue] il est a Dieu pleyssir,
Mult bonement le suffrirai :
(De) tout me durray a luy servir.
X.
De luy servir mettray m'entent(e) ;
Mult me desplet qe ensi ne fis.
75 N'est pas mervoyle, si me dement,
Si terrien honur m'est faylliz !
Mon quoer contrite soy present
A cel(y) q'en croys pur nous fu mys,
Mes voyl[e] bien qe me repent
80 De mes mals q [ue] ay fest tut dis.
XI.
Tut dis enfeble en fermerie
(Sui) par ceaux que felons sunt ;
[Qui] par lur ruste reverie
Troys roys eslu en ount ;
85 Le plus jofne par mes trie
Coroune de oor porter en fount :
Jhesu luy gard(e), le fiz Marie,
.De treson, que Dieu confurid !
60 MS. Fme lealte 61 MS. Beux tant. 71 MS. suffrai.
81 MS. Mys enfeble fermery.
PAUL STUDER 43
XII.
Deux confund[e] ses enemys !
90 E luy faceo un roy moud sage,
[Et] enpernant et poystifs
De meyntenir pris e barnage !
E que toutz ceaux soyent jus mys,
Q'ennoy luy querount ou (en) damage !
95 E si moy serroit acomplis
Le greingnur desir de mon corage.
XIII
Mon corage pas ne se pleint
De terrien honur regretere ;
Mais douce Jhesu, qe nous ad reint
100 Par son saunk preciouse et chiere,
Par la priere de toutz ly seins,
Q'en sa glorie sount parcenere,
A cele joie tost nous meint,
Q'en nule tenps [ne] peust finere !
XIV.
105 Finer m'estut, ne voyl plus dire.
Va t'en chaunson ignelement
A La Bise du par Kenire
Si la ditez brefment :
Qe quant le serf se saut de ire,
110 Et ou(e) ses perches bestes purfent,
Gard(e) soy q'el(e) n'eyt mester de mire !
Tant se porte sagement !
XV.
Sages et fouz, trestouz vus pri,
Pur moy priez communement
115 (A) Marie, la mere de mercy,
Que Jhesu norist, omnipotent : 9
Que pur les joyes q'ele uist de ly,
Q'ele luy prie devoutement,
Qe de touz trays eye mercy,
120 (Et) de touz forjuges falcement !
Explicit.
102 could also be read partenere.
107 could be read du parke vire. 119 MS. eyt mercy.
44 An Anglo-Norman Poem by Edward II, King of England
I append the following literal translation into English : —
OF KING EDWARD, THE SON OF KING EDWARD,
THE SONG WHICH HE MADE.
I.
1 In winter woe befell me ;
By cruel Fortune thwarted,
My life now lies a ruin.
Full oft have I experienced,
5 There's none so fair, so wise,
So courteous nor so highly famed,
But, if Fortune cease to favour,
Will be a fool proclaimed.
II.
My clamour rises — yet in vain ;
10 When favour once is lost,
Soon does man's love grow cold.
Too fondly have I trusted,
And honours done to many
Who now seek, my destruction ;
15 They love me little, pity me less,
In prison they torment me.
III.
Torment me, aye ! most cruelly —
Ev'n though 'twere well deserved.
Their evil faith in Parliament
20 From high has brought me low.
Lord of Salvation, I me repent ;
For all my sins forgiveness crave :
May from the pain the flesh endureth
The soul receive both joy and mercy.
IV.
25 Mejcy, I trow, I needs shall reap
From precious gifts and kindly deeds
Which oft upon my friends and kin,
Within my power I did bestow.
If I have erred, it grieveth me :
30 But to their counsel was I sworn.
What I have sinned against the faith,
Alas ! dear Lord, full well Thou knowest.
V.
Thou knowest well and openly,
For nought is there so well concealed
35 But is to Thee fully revealed,
Both good and ill all equally;
Thereon will rest Thy judgments dread.
Deal with my sins mercifully !
But nonetheless Thy will be done,
40 For body and soul to Thee I yield.
PAUL STUDER 45
VI.
I yield me all to Jesu,
Craving His grace and pardon.
Once was I feared and dreaded,
But now all men despise me,
45 And hail me 'crownless king,3
A laughing stock to all.
My dearest friends deceived me :
Too late I see it openly.
VII.
And openly have they defied me,
50 Those who betrayed me thus ;
Methought I had their love,
Now have they all forsaken me.
For many a jewel and many a gift
I have now their reward.
55 The tears are mine, but theirs the laugh ;
The game's unfairly dealt.
VIII.
They've dealt to me a joyless game.
And 'mid such grief my heart complains
Of her whom fondly I believed
60 A faithful wife — turned to deceit !
Fair Isabel I dearly loved,
But now love's spark is dead ;
And with my love my joy is gone,
As 'tis from many a heart.
IX.
65 And now 'twere time indeed
That I in death should sleep,
Since honours all I've lost
Beyond recovery.
And yet why be dismayed ?
70 What God hath thus ordained
Full meekly will I bear,
And serve Him faithfully.
X.
His service be my constant thought.
Ah ! why was it not ever so ?
75 What marvel then that I am sad,
And earthly grandeur faileth me ?
O let my contrite heart be near
To Him who suffered on the cross,
That truly now I may repent
80 Of all the sins that e'er I did. »
XL
For ever in captivity
Those felons make me languish,
Who in their crass insanity
Three kings have now elected.
85 Upon the youngest, in stately pomp,
. A crown of gold they've placed.
Keep him, Jesu, the Son of Mary,
From traitors, whom God confound !
46 An Anglo-Norman Poem by Edward II, King of England
XII.
May God confound his enemies,
90 And make of him a monarch wise,
Endowed both with might and will
Fair fame to uphold and chivalry !
And let them all be brought to shame
Who seek to harm or injure him !
95 And then at last shall be fulfilled
The inmost wish of all my heart.
XIII.
My heart no longer will lament,
Arid weep o'er earthly honours ;
But let sweet Jesu, Who redeemed us
100 By His most precious blood,
Moved by the prayers of all the Saints
Who in His glory share,
Lead us ere long to that great joy
Which shall be without end.
XIV.
105 An end I'll make and say no more.
Hie thee, my song, on wings !
Go to the Doe beyond Kenire [ = Kenil worth ?]
Aiid tell it her in brief.
That when the stag is roused to wrath
110 And turns upon the hounds,
She may forgo the leech's care,
Bearing herself so wise.
XV.
Both wise and fool I would entreat,
Make prayers for me, ye all,
115 To Mary, the mother all merciful,
Who bore the almighty Lord,
That through the joys she had of Him
She may her Son beseech,
For all my sins and treacherous deeds
120 To grant me mercy yet.
MONTANA, SWITZERLAND. PAUL STUDEE.
COURT MASQUERADES IN SWEDEN IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
I.
A SURVEY of the ballets and similar amusements of the Swedish
court during the seventeenth century reveals some interesting parallels
with the masques of Ben Jonson and his successors under James I and
Charles I. Most of the pieces described in the following pages were
performed in honour of the versatile and pleasure-loving Queen Christina,
who, like Anne of Denmark and Henrietta Maria of France, herself
often led the dancers. The position and character of the young queen in
fact bore no slight resemblance to the character and position of Charles I.
The court of Sweden at this time was one of the most brilliant in
Europe ; but while a circle of wise statesmen directed, or strove to direct,
the weightier affairs of State, the personal favour of the sovereign was
given to a succession of younger men, many of them foreigners, who
conspired with the rest of Europe to flatter her vanity and minister to
her self-will. In Sweden, as in England, large sums were spent over the
amusements of the court, and there were not wanting those who com-
plained bitterly of the queen's extravagance and frivolity.
Again, contemporary letters and memoirs furnish us with exactly the
same illuminating and sometimes amusing hints on the ballets as are
given for the English masque by the letters of Chamberlain or the
' choice observations ' of Finnett. We hear of the most careful pre-
parations, and of hitches in the same, of the costs of production, of petty
jealousies and quarrels, of postponements, of dissatisfaction with some
piece that did not come up to expectations. We learn too of the great
crowds that thronged the hall specially arranged in the palace at
Stockholm for the performance of these masquerades* This hall was
called stora Spel-salen or la grande Salle des Machines (in imitation of
that at the Tuileries in Paris), and served the same purpose as the
Banqueting-House in England. A statement made1 for one ballet tells
us that not only courtiers but all kinds of people (allahanda folk) had
access to the piece : on another occasion we learn from the same source
1 By Ekeblad; see below.
48 Court Masquerades in Siveden in the 17th Century
that a ballet was performed before 'an enormous crowd of people.' The
same was certainly true of other ballets, though it does not appear that
the Swedish citizen had such difficulty in gaining admission as is
suggested by Robin Goodfellow's amusing and probably not much
exaggerated account in Jonson's Love Restored. It is interesting to note
that in Sweden, just as in England, disputes between the different
foreign ambassadors sometimes threatened to destroy the peace of mind
of the sovereign and even to stop the performance altogether1. One of
the main purposes of both masque and ballet was indeed, as Reyher has
pointed out2, to conciliate these touchy gentlemen and keep them
innocently employed. Further, the services of the foremost poet and
one of the most learned men of his day, Georg Stiernhielm, were
requisitioned for the Swedish versions of the most important of these
pieces, and Stiernhielm's classical learning and high idea of the dignity
of his poetic vocation are at least two points of .connexion between him
and Jonson. It is true that most of the Swedish ballets were originally
designed by Frenchmen and were sketched out and often performed
in French, the Swedish texts that we have being translations, or rather
rehandlings, intended for the use of those who could not — or like the
Chancellor Oxenstierna would not3 — speak the fashionable language
of the court ; nevertheless the ballets present certain features which
differentiate them from the French ballets preserved in the collections
of Lacroix4, and which seem to suggest at least the possibility of an
influence from England.
The character of Queen Christina is a problem which has at once
fascinated and baffled all the historians who have tried to deal with it.
There can be no doubt, however, of her real mental ability, or of the hold
which she possessed upon the loyalty and affections of her subjects. As
the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus she was born to a heritage of love
and veneration; it was the constant desire of her advisers that by her
marriage the preservation of the direct line of descent might be ensured;
and the distress felt at her abdication was both widespread and genuine.
In the entertaining collection of letters to which I shall frequently have
occasion to refer, Ekeblad, who was present at the abdication ceremony
on June 6, 1654, relates that from the queen herself down to the
1 See Whitelocke's account of the masquerade given at Uppsala in honour of the Spanish
ambassador Pimentelli on April 8, 1654, and of his own dispute with the Danish am-
bassador in the matter of precedence on that occasion. (B. Whitelocke, Journal of the
Swedish Embassy, 2 vols., London, 1855, n, pp. 107 ff.)
2 P. Keyher, Les Masques Anglais, pp. 289 f .
3 See Whitelocke, op. cit., i, p. 300.
4 P. Lacroix, Ballets et Mascarades de cour, 6 vols., Geneve et Turin, 1868-70.
F. J. FIELDEN 49
humblest member present there was not one who did not shed tears,
and adds that the queen 'may justly be likened to a mother parted
from her children1.' Nevertheless there was a large section of the com-
munity that lamented Christina's complete subservience to the favourite
of the moment, and saw in the wave of foreign culture that passed over
the court at the end of the Thirty Years' War the signs of a deterioration
in the national customs and morality.
French influence began to make itself felt most strongly at the
court from about 164?5 onwards. It was deepened in the case of Christina
herself by her friendship with Pierre Chanut, French ambassador to
Sweden from 1645 to 1649. Count Magnus de la Gardie was also of
French extraction. Over twenty French savants, real or pretended, lived
in Stockholm. Rourdelot, the quack who supplanted the philosophers
and whose ascendancy over the queen's mind covered the years 1651-3,
was a Frenchman. Most of the queen's servants were French : she
herself spoke and wrote the language fluently. Mdlle de Scudery,
Malherbe, Scarron, and Balzac united in praising her. Both Claude
de Saumaise and Descartes came by her invitation to live in Stockholm,
the latter, as is well known, dying there in February t 1650. In Christina's
reign therefore we see the beginnings of the French influence that was to
dominate Swedish (and European) literature throughout the eighteenth
century. And, as was only natural, a strong German, as well as French,
influence was one result of the Thirty Years' War. Swedish noblemen
wrote their names in German characters, foreign words were heard
in the very streets of Stockholm, and on the signs of tradesfolk German
. was used more than Swedish2. After the conclusion of the Peace of
Westphalia there was an influx of foreign adventurers into Stockholm,
and the warriors of Gustavus Adolphus brought back with them the
customs, as well as the possessions, they had acquired abroad. When
Christina assumed the reins of government in 1645, she became assiduous
in encouraging foreign artists to the capital. Her cosmopolitan taste is
shown by the fact that in 1652-3 there were present at the Swedish
court, though not simultaneously, German and Polish musicians, French
violinists and lutanists (as well as singers), Italian instrumentalists, and
1 Johan Ekeblads bref, utgifna af N. Sjoberg (2 vols., Stockholm, 1911 and 1915), i,
p. 343. These letters are among the most valuable of the documents relating to court
affairs in Sweden under Christina and Carl X. Johari Ekeblad (1629-97) was a gentle-
man usher at the court of Queen Christina, and later became chamberlain to Hedvig
Eleonora, Carl X's queen. His principal correspondent was his father, a colonel in the
Swedish army. A few of the letters are written from London, whither Ekeblad accom-
panied the Swedish ambassador to Cromwell in the autumn of 1655.
2 J. Gronstedt, Svenska hoff ester, i, p. 86.
M. L. R. XVI. 4:
50 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
English, Dutch, and Italian troops of players. The queen's tastes would
naturally be followed by the courtiers, and the ballets performed at
court may therefore be regarded as one indication of a desire for a
European culture and a greater elegance and refinement of manners.
They served to counteract in the noblemen who took part in them
the roughening effects of camp life.
In the somewhat meagre dramatic literature of Sweden the court
masquerades of the seventeenth century are of small importance, even
when due allowance is made for the limitations of the form. There
exist only some half-dozen texts written in Swedish, and five of these are
rehandlings of French originals. Stiernhielm's pieces, it is true, are
in many places much superior to the French models upon which he
worked, and he produced one masterpiece, Den Fangne Cupido, which
will compare with the best masques of Jonson. But Stiernhielm remained
for too short a time at the Swedish court to attempt any development
of the form of the ballet, and in any case it is by no means certain that
he would have thought it worth while to do so. The chief effect of the
court ballets upon the legitimate drama was the improvement of stage
decoration and machinery ; in Sweden, as in England, the appliances and
decorations used in the court masquerades seem to have been greatly
in advance of those employed in the regular drama. From a comparative
point of view, however, these pieces are of considerable interest. They
reveal the adaptations and transformations of French taste in a northern
capital; they bring out the essential similarity of court life all over
Europe ; the types of character represented in them throw light upon
the political and social conditions of the time ; and they serve to
bring us into contact with a very interesting period of history. The
following account may therefore contribute to form a basis for a com-
parative study of the rise and development of the court masquerades
in the various countries of Europe during the seventeenth century1.
It is not at all surprising that che gay nobles of the Swedish court,
most of whom had recently been brought into contact with French and
1 The general account here given, in so far as it relates to Sweden, is derived in the
main from the following sources: G. Ljunggren, Svenska Dramat infill slutet af 17de
arhundradet, chap, vin (Lund, 1864: still the standard work on its subject); G. E. Klem-
ming, Sveriges dramatiska litteratur. Bibliografi (Stockholm, 1863-79) ; C. Silfverstolpe,
article on Antoine de Beaulieu in Samlaren (the organ of the Swedish Society of Literature),
10, 1889, pp. 5ff.; E. Jacobsson, in Meddelanden fran svenska sltijdfdreningen (the Swedish
Sloyd Society) for 1894, pp. 59 ff.; J. Gronstedt, Svenska hqffester, i (Stockholm, 1911).
Of the texts, Stiernhielm's ballets have been several times reprinted, and Lindschold's
piece is also accessible in a modern edition. For the other pieces, including the French
and German versions corresponding to Stiernhielm's, I have had to refer to the original
editions, which have been kindly procured for me by the officials of the University Library
of Lund.
F. J. FIELDEN 51
German culture, should derive little pleasure from the serious tone and
often inartistic methods of the school drama of Uppsala, nor was any
encouragement given by the court to a Swedish national drama. In the
earlier stages of dramatic development ' town ' and ' court ' are indeed
almost invariably opposed. A national drama arises from the former,
but is crushed by the latter1. The town of Stockholm was not sufficiently
important at this time to counteract the influence of the court, and
the national drama, which had made promising beginnings under
J. Messenius, went under, never really to emerge again. Moreover the
school drama was based on medieval traditions, while in the ballets
the Renaissance makes its first serious entrance into the dramatic
literature of Sweden2. Queen Christina did once summon the students
to perform at court, but it is again significant of French influence that
they performed on this occasion not Plautus or Terence as usual, but
Seneca's Hercules Furens.
In 1^635 Cardinal Richelieu's envoy, the Baron d'Avagour, came
to Sweden and spoke to the queen-mother, Maria Eleonora, of the
elegance of the French courtiers and of their skill in dancing. As a
result he was bidden by the queen to summon to the Swedish court
a French nobleman, Antoine de Beaulieu, who was at that time staying
in England and was known as a skilful dancing- and ballet-master.
Beaulieu arrived next year, and at once set about his task of instructing
the aristocracy of Stockholm in ' danse et maintien.' Looking back in
later days he could boast ' d'avoir poli toute la cour.' In the first ballet
performed in Sweden, Le Ballet des Plaizirs de la Vie des Enfans sans
Soucy, danced on January 28, 1638, Beaulieu himself played the part of
Le Joueur, and as all the other dancers were his pupils, the piece
was really a trial specimen of his art. It is probable that some at least
of the earlier ballets were brought over direct from France and merely
subjected to necessary alterations in Stockholm, more particularly in the
concluding grand ballet, the chief function of which was always to flatter
the sovereign. In at least two cases there seems to be evidence of direct
Italian influence also. Of a possible English influence something will be
said below. It is evident, however, that something more than a second-
hand performance was very soon required. Beaulieu at first managed
the production of the ballets unaided, but in 1649 we find that the
Italian architect Antonio Brunati was called in to assist him. In 1650
Beaulieu was promoted to the position of maitre d'hdtel to Christina, and
1 Schiick- Warburg, Illustrerad svensk litter aturhistoria, i, p. 492.
2 Ibid., p. 494.
52 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17th Century
was succeeded as ballet-master by Jacques de Sonnes or des Ausnes.
However he still continued to have an oversight of the productions of
court ballets, and this fact possibly interfered with his success as major
domo, for his authority seems to have been but lightly regarded in
the royal kitchens. After Christina's abdication he fell upon evil days.
His petitions for the payment of sums due to him were disregarded, and
he died in want and misery in or about the year 1663. Besides Beaulieu
and des Ausnes, the accounts also mention a certain Daniel, ballet-
master to Frederick, Landgrave of Hessen.
For convenience in reference I give below1 a list of the principal
ballets performed in Sweden. A glance at the list will reveal the presence
of an unusual and somewhat puzzling feature. Sometimes we find, in
addition to the French text, Swedish and German versions of the ballet,
although in only one or two cases do we know that more than one
performance was given. A comparison of these various texts establishes
it almost as a certainty that the French version is the original; the
German as a rule follows the French closely, the Swedish much less so,
a fact for which the individual genius of Stiernhielm is probably res-
ponsible. In these alternative versions the persons of the entries always
remain the same, but the length of their speeches may vary considerably.
Metres and verse-forms are freely altered : in fact the pieces are rather
rehandlings than translations. The question then arises : why should
so much trouble be taken to secure elegant poetic versions of the French
original if these versions were only to- be handed round among the
spectators, so that those ignorant of French should understand what was
going on ? A brief prose summary would have answered the purpose
just as well. Stiernhielm's three ballets were almost certainly performed
as he wrote them, in Swedish, and it seems probable that when two
or more dates are mentioned, and perhaps in other cases also, the
performance was given in different languages on different occasions. It
is of course not impossible that where a Swedish version exists, the
verses were declaimed on the same occasion first in one language and
then in the other.
With this question is connected another somewhat obscure point.
What was the exact relationship between the dances and the verses
assigned to the person or persons of the entry ? In England we know
that the masquers themselves never either spoke or sang ; the speaking
parts of the masque were usually, though not invariably, taken by
professional actors2, and the masquers remained hidden in their rock or
1 In the second instalment of this paper. 2 On this point see Keyher, pp. 84 ff .
F. J. FIELDEN 53
cave or mountain until the climax of the piece came, the rock was opened
to the sound of loud music, and they emerged to dance their ' Entry.'
But this working up to one supreme moment when the stage was filled
with a blaze of light, colour, and sound is a peculiarity of the English
masque. In the ballet, though there may often be a central idea running
through the piece, the different entries are independent of one another.
There are no set dances corresponding to the English ' Entry/ ' Main/
and ' Going Out/ but each dancer or group of dancers gives a separate
performance and retires to make room for the next. In a common type
of French balfet there is a threefold division into dances, recits and vers.
The recits were delivered on the stage, but the verses were printed
on loose leaflets and handed round among the audience1. In some cases,
e.g. Les Effects de V Amour and Les Boutades ou Proverbes, the same
method may have been adopted in Sweden, but the majority of the
pieces are so constructed that this can hardly have been the case,
but the verses must have been closely associated with the dance. It
seems probable that the verses assigned to each character were recited
either by the dancer himself or by some other before the dance took
place. The costume and character of the dancer could often not be under-
stood without some explanation, and it is difficult to see how verses and
dance could be carried on simultaneously, except where the former were
sung to music, when it would of course be easy. This was sometimes
done in France. In the Ballet du Roy...sur V adventure de Tancrede et
la forest enchantee, 16192, one entry consists of a. 'ballet des anges/
in which it is expressly stated : ' Us estoient 28 en tout, dont les uns
chantoient seulement, et les autres dan9oient.' Here we have the 'dancing
to song' recommended by Bacon3, and we find it also in the Masque
of Mountebanks and in Campion's masque for the wedding of Lord
Hayes. As a rule the headings of the entries in Stiernhielm's ballets
contain simply the names of the characters represented, but the twelfth
entry in Freds- Afl is headed 'Justice speaks; with her dance Pax and
Pallas/ and the heading of the tenth entry in the same piece is ' Earth
speaks, dancing with the other three elements.' In Den ffangne Cupido
some of the entries are quite long, and constitute little dramatic scenes.
The ballets performed in Sweden are therefore constructed on the
1 See e.g. the Ballet dansd par le roy, January 29, 1617: 'Tandis que le grand Bal se
danca, et que chacun s'amusa a lire les vers particuliers que le Eoy et les seigneurs de sa
suitte donnerent aux Dames, sur le personnage que chacun d'eux avoit represente aux
entries,' Lacroix, n, p. 119.
2 Lacroix, n, pp. 161 ff.
3 Essay xxxvn, Of Masques and Triumphs. Cp. E. Brotanek, Die englischen Masken-
spiele, p. 262.
54 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 tli Century
French model. It will be seen, however, from the abstracts given below,
that there is often dialogue in the separate entries, and that an attempt
is usually made to construct the piece around some central idea. In
other words there is more unity than in most of the French ballets,
where the literary and dramatic elements are often almost non-existent.
It is possible that this development may be due to English influence.
Nevertheless it remains true of the ballet in Sweden, even more than
of the masque in England, that it 'cannot... be recovered to a part of
that spirit it had in the gliding by1.' Much of the beauty and grace of
the masterpiece of the Swedish ballet, Den Fdngne Cupido, can indeed
be recaptured from the printed text, but for most of the others we have
to draw largely upon our imagination2.
The authors of these pieces are for the most part unknown. Of the
French texts two are by Urbain Chevreau, a dramatist and miscellaneous
writer of some distinction3; one certainly, another probably, is by Helie
Poirier, who in 1646 published in Amsterdam a book of poems dedicated
to Queen Christina ; one by ' le Sieur de Monthuchet,' of whom nothing
is known. For the German versions only one name has been assigned —
that of Johann Freinshemius, a German scholar who was called to
Sweden by Gustavus Adolphus and was one of Christina's masters
in Greek. For Stiernhielm and Erik Lindschold see below.
The details of the staging and production of the ballets in Sweden do
not present any great novelties, but are none the less of considerable
interest. In the National Museum in Stockholm there is a collection
1 Jonson, Hymenaei.
2 Lacroix (i, Introd., p. ix) quotes a passage from the Memoir es of the Abbe Michel
de Marolles (Paris, 2 vols., 1656-7), in which the ballet is defined ' de la facon qu'il est
aujourd'hui en usage parmi nous.' 'II me semble,' says the abbe\ ' que ce n'est autre
chose qu'une danse de plusieurs personnes masquers sous des habits e"clatans, composes
de plusieurs entrees ou parties, qui se peuvent distribuer en plusieurs actes et se rapportent
agreablement a un tout, avec des airs differens, pour representer un sujet invente, ou le
plaisant, le rare et le merveilleux ne soient point oublies.' This definition will apply to
Sweden. The main purpose of the ballet is to flatter. Where unity is attempted, the
entries are held together by some abstract idea, which is also treated in such a way as to
flatter the sovereign. There is no division into masque and antimasque, but grotesque
personages frequently appear in the entries. Characters from real life are also introduced,
though these are always representative of some class or profession and are without in-
dividuality. As in the masque, there is a strong mythological and allegorical element.
Songs are comparatively rare, but there was always music for the dances, and the verses
too were probably delivered stylo recitativo, as in Jonson's Vision of Delight, Lovers made
Men, and elsewhere. The distinguishing feature of the English masque— the taking out
of partners by the masquers and the dancing of ' Measures ' and ' Bevels ' in the course of
the performance of the piece itself — is absent in ballets of the French type. The various
entries were danced and the ballet concluded before the general ball was begun. But both
in masque and ballet we may be sure that the ball was for many of the audience the most
important part of the proceedings, a part for which they would gladly have sacrificed all
the mythological structure leading up to it.
3 See the notices of him in La Grande Encyclopedic and the Nouvelle Biographic
generate.
F. J. FIELDEN 55
of coloured representations of the costumes used for a number of gods
and goddesses and other mythological and allegorical characters in
the ballets. Three specimens are reproduced by Jacobsson. The drawings
closely resemble the Chatsworth designs by Inigo Jones reproduced in
Shakespeare s England. The foundation of the costume is always some
richly embroidered stuff; hats with feathers and white gloves seem to
have been de rigueur. Masks were also an indispensable part of the
attire, as is proved by rqferences both in the texts themselves arid
in the accounts for materials used, and the same was the case in France
and in England1. Full information as to the materials used in the
ballets is given in the Accounts of the Royal Wardrobe2. From them
we learn, for instance, that for the ballet Den Fangne Cupido Beaulieu
had during the months of October and November, 1649 : 3726^ ells of
cloth (cloth of silver, velvet, silk, taffeta, damask, linen, gauze, holland,
etc.), 3222 ells of lace, 2111 ells of galloon, 24961 ells of ribbon, 43 dozen
buttons with 133 ozs. of silk and 3 Ibs. of thread, 10 pairs of gloves, 81
pairs of stockings, 127 feathers (larger and smaller), 2 'fine beaver hats/
2 hatbands (1 gold, 1 silver), 128 'masks of various kinds used for the
face/ 60 rosettes for shoes, and 32 Ibs. of whalebone. Queen Christina's
dress as Diana consisted of: 22 ells of wide silver lace, finest quality,
weight 45 ozs., 28 ells of silver gauze, 1 pair of English gloves, 15 ells of
white satin ribbon, 10 ells of silver ribbon, 3 ells of silver lace — at a total
cost of just over 1014 daler(silver3). The cost of the materials for the ballet,
not including the making of the dresses, was over 16,850 daler, or a little
less than £2250. According to the statement of the Danish resident,
Peder Juul, Chevreau's ballet Les Liberalitez des Dieux and the tilt
that followed it cost 100,000 rix-dollars (about £20.,()004). If this state-
ment be correct the case was unusual, for otherwise we hear of no
such immense sums as were expended over the later court masques
in England. It must be remembered, moreover, that when the costs
of masque or ballet are given, it is often uncertain how much must
be set down to the banquet or other festivities accompanying it ; though
on the other hand, in Sweden at least, part of the cos^ was in some
cases probably borne by the individual dancers in the ballet and is
therefore not included in the court accounts. In any case the sums
expended were large enough to cause considerable dissatisfaction. The
1 The statement of Evans, English Masques, Introd,, p. xxxv, that ' this unbecoming
and unnecessary disguise was soon dispensed with ' is without foundation.
2 Extracts in Jacobsson, pp. 86 ff.
3 1 daler (silver) = 2^ daler (copper) = f rix-dollar^ (according to Whitelocke) 2s. 8d.
English money.
4 Ljunggren, p. 419.
56 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
costumes for Chevreau's Balet de la Felicite cost 4500 daler (silver).
There were 59 of them in all, including some for the 14 musicians.
Abr. Leijonhufvud as Jupiter had a costume of flame-coloured satin,
draped with gold and silver gauze, flame-coloured stockings, and a mask ;
Harald Oxe, Venus, wore flame-coloured taffeta, trimmed with gold
and silver lace, flamed-coloured stockings, and mask ; three nymphs
were dressed in flowered and rose-coloured taffeta, with silver gauze
scarves and flowered silk stockings; the Cupids wore dresses of flesh-
coloured taffeta trimmed with gauze1. Some of the materials were
ordered direct from France, others were bought from merchants in
Stockholm.
The stage decorations and scenery carried out under Brunati naturally
show a strong Italian influence. A little Italian pamphlet of eight
pages, printed at Stockholm in 16542, gives interesting details of the
scenery of Chevreau's Balet de la Felicite (see list). We learn that
the hall was divided into two amphitheatres, one for the nobility and one
for the bourgeoisie. The proscenium was painted to. imitate marble, and
represented fluted Doric pilasters, with an entablature in the frieze of
which were placed the names of the royal pair, surrounded by arms,
emblems, etc. (cp. the ' compartment ' of the masque). On both sides of
the stage were seen niches with statues, between double rows of pilasters.
The ballet was divided into three parts. In the first there was a per-
spective of a very bright sun arising from a hill, on the right the walls of
a city, adorned with towers and other buildings, and on the left, in equal
proportions, ' un luogo delitioso d' alberi fra quali era una casa d' alloggio
ed altre fabriche.' In the second part the scenery was principally formed
by 'tre grand! strade a tre ponti concorrenti ornate con dilettevole varieta
di pretiosi alberi di cedri, granati, aranci, ed altre.' The scenery of the
third part included a representation of a tier of columns of lapis lazuli.
These descriptions are an additional proof, if any such were needed, that
the columns, streets, buildings, and arbours which Inigo Jones introduced
into the scenery of Jonson's masques came in the first place from Italy.
The triumphal arch, which was so common a feature of the Caroline
masque, was used in Sweden also.1 It is found e.g. in Heela Wdrdenes
Frogd. Another stock feature of the scenery of the ballets is the Mount
1 Accounts of the Wardrobe, Jacobsson, p. 83.
2 Festa Teatrale. Fattaper le nozze della Maesta di Suecia con la Principessa d'Holsatia,
dedicataal conte Mayno Gabrielle della Guardia da Antonio Brunati Teatrista, Italian*)
inventore, Stockholm, Janssonius, 1654. The description of the scene is by ' Jacopo dal
Pozzo, maestro di lingue.' Brunati was responsible only for the scenery, not for the piece
itself, as Silfverstolpe seems to think.
F. J. FIELDEN 57
of Parnassus. In Sweden, as in France and England, elaborate and costly
machinery was often employed in the entrances of triumphal cars and in
the appearances of gods and goddesses. For one upptag1 we learn from
Chanut's memoirs that several hitherto unknown machines and me-
chanical devices were specially imported from Nuremberg. The curtain
was fastened with rings to an iron pole, and was drawn to the sides
at the proper moment. For various reasons it had to be renewed some-
what frequently. At the beginning of 1651 there had been a new curtain,
but by the end of the year another new one was required for the ballet
on the queen's birthday. The reason, we are told, was that ' the people
in the ballet had cut holes all over the curtain in order to look through,'
so that it was quite spoiled and had to be cut up for bed-hangings2.
The accounts preserved in the Royal Archives of Stockholm (Kungl.
Slottsarkivet) give details of the fittings of the new ballet-hall or 'grande
salle des machines ' already mentioned. This was a room originally used
for court balls and banquets, situated in the eastern part of the palace
on the topmost storey. The walls were hung with tapestries. The curtain
was of white satin, with gold and silver cords, and there was another
'veil' (forlat) of blue and yellow linen. Of the decorations are mentioned
' one Swedish landscape on white satin ' and ' one landscape on paper
lined with brown holland.' The seats were covered with costly rugs and
hangings. Torches and candles were used to illumine the dances, and the
hall itself was lit with oil lamps. The hall was finished early in 1649,
and was inaugurated by the performance of Les Passions Victorieuses et
Vaincues on April 4 of that year. It was subjected to a thorough re-
novation before the Balet de la Felicite was performed in 1654. The
accounts of the Inland Revenue Department (Kungl. Kammarkollegiet)
mention innumerable boards, beams, nails, etc. used on this occasion, as
well as 116 ells of broad linen required for the curtain, 3 measures
of Russian soap used in cleaning 72 old screens for the wings, 4 pieces of
thin cloth for ' the perspective representing the sun/ tin lamps and
sweet-oil, etc.3 No important renovations seem to have taken place
subsequently.
The nobles who took part in the ballets included all the younger
aristocracy of the court. The names of Prince Carl Gustaf (afterwards
Carl X), Prince Johan Adolphe of the Palatinate (his brother), Frederick
of Hessen, Magnus, Jacob, and Pontus de la Gardie, Count Tott, Gustaf
and Svante Baner, Corfiz Ulfeldt, Erik Sparre, Otto and Jakob Taube,
1 La Pompe de la Felicite; see below. 2 Extract in Jacobsson, p. 91.
3 Jacobsson, p. 82.
58 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
Gustaf Horn, Gustaf Soop and others are of frequent occurrence. Pages
and superior servants also danced in the ballets, and we find many
French names in the lists of the dancers. As was the case in France,
the grotesque feminine characters of some entries were always im-
personated by men. Ladies, however, took part in the grand ballet, and
might represent mythological characters in the piece itself (cp. Den
Fangne Cupido).
Several passages in Ekeblad's letters reveal the great importance
that was attached to the forthcoming performance of a court ballet. On
November 17, 1652, he writes: 'At Court all are now working for
the ballet that is to be danced on the [queen's] birthday. Since the
time is short, they are working the more diligently1.' On December 1,
speaking of the same ballet, Les Liberalitez des Dieux, he writes : ' For
there is now so much to be done with the ballet and tilt that are to be
held that no business of importance is transacted2.' When the queen did
not go to the funeral of the Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna's wife, Ekeblad
gives as the reason partly that she was indisposed, but partly that she
wished to hurry on the performance of Den Fangne Cupido for the sake
of the French ambassador3. Further references are needless.
1 Letters, i, p. 193.
2 IUd.o, i, p. 198.
3 ' ...bade for det att hon nagot opasslig varit hafver sasom ock till att hasta pa balleten
for denne fransoska ambassadorens skull, hvilken hastar till att resa hadan forr an vattnet
tillfrys, men vill garna se balleten forst' (i, p. 19). The ambassador was the Comte de
Bregy, French envoy to Poland, who stayed at the Swedish court on his way home.
(To be continued.)
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
SUGGESTED EMENDATIONS IN OLD ENGLISH POETICAL TEXTS.
Fight at Finnsburg.
1. 35. MS. (text of G. Hickes) ymbe hyne godra f&la hwearflacra
hrier. Grein emended to hwearflicra hr&w, but hwearftic does not occur
elsewhere. Read ymbe hyne godra ftela; hreas wlancra hrsew. The
letters r, s, /, w are frequently confused by the copyist, who moreover
often omits the mark over a vowel indicating a following n.
1. 40. MS. (Hickes) ne nefre swa noc hwitne medo sel forgyldan.
Grein's emendation, swanas for swa noc, if accepted, would put an early
date for the poem out of the question, as the meaning ' man-at-arms/
'retainer,' for swan was borrowed quite late from the Danish sveinn.
In O.E. swan means 'swineherd,' as in the A.S. Chron., anno 755 A.D.
It would be better to omit swa noc as a printer's error. This omission
would also correct the metre (B-type).
Characters of Men (Grein-Wiilker, in, 144).
1. 25. MS. printed1 him in innan ungemede madmod. Read unge-
medemad mod and transl. ' inside them pride swells unmeasured ' ;
medemian is formed from medeme ' midway/ ' moderate/
1. 28. MS. breodaft is a contraction of breogda&— bregdaft, from bregd
1 trick/
Fates of Men (Gr.-W., in, 148).
1. 83. MS. gearo se J?e hleapeft n%gl neomegende. Read sceardfefter
hleapeft, ntegl neomegende. Sceardfe&er is the quill or plectrum, the
same as nsegl. The copyist has confused the consonants.
I. 93. MS. weorod anes god. Read weoroda nergend. Confusion of
r and s, and failure to notice or expand the contraction for n.
Exodus (Gr.-W, n, 445).
II. 59, 193. MS. gearwe b&ron. Read geatwe b&ron 'bore their
armour/ i.e. ' advanced/
1. 145. MS. ymb an twig. Read ymb anes wig ' concerning the
attack of one man (Moses)/
1. 180. MS. ymb hine w&gon. Read ymb hine wteron. Wtegon would
have no object.
60 Miscellaneous Notes
1. 239. MS. licwunde swor. Read licwunde swol ' the burning of a
wound.'
I. 265. MS. tegnian mid yrmftum israhela cyn. For tegnian read
ognian ' terrify/ from oga.
II. 286, 287. MS. fia for& heonon in ece y&e fieahton. For ece read
ecnesse, and transl. ' which hitherto the waves for eternity had covered.'
Ford" here means ' extending from now backwards/ the usual word being
feorran.
11. 290, 291. MS. bring is areafod sand ssscir span. Read brim is
areafod, sandste aspranc ' the sea is cleared away, the sandy waters have
started aside/ The copyist has read a as ci, confused s, p, r with each
other, and omitted c or eg owing to the closely following c of ic.
1. 344. MS. gu&cyste onprang deaiuig sceaftum. Read dea&wigsceaftum
' with deadly spears/
1. 358. MS. onriht godes. Read anriht Godes ' the privileged of God'(?);
anriht does not however occur elsewhere.
1. 465. MS. eyre swi&rode. Read eyrm swiftrode ( the clamour
increased/
1. 469. MS. for&ganges nep searwum seswled sand barenodon witodre
wyrde hwonne, etc. Read for&gang esnes searwum asteled. Sand hi
renedon witodre wyrde hwonne, etc. ' The advance of the warrior(s) was
impeded by their armour. The sands prepared for their appointed
destiny/ etc.
1. 475. se fte feondum geneop. Read gehweop 'menaced/
1. 484 ff. MS. pa se mihtiga sloh mid halge hand heofonrices weard
werbeamas wlance fteode ne mihton forhabban helpendra paft mere-
streames mod. Inserting on after werbeamas and reading fte&m for pa&,
we transl. 'When the Almighty with his holy hand, the guardian of
heaven, struck the barriers. Neither the proud people (the Egyptians)
nor the hand (lit. embrace) of helpers could check the fury of the sea/
Werbeam means ' weir-bar/ ' flood-gate/ The insertion of on corrects
the metre.
1. 491. MS. witrod gefeol heah ofheofonum. Read wigrod ' the war-
pole/ i.e. the mighty thunderbolt which God hurls down upon the
Egyptians ; it is compared to an ' old sword/ aide mece.
1. 498. MS. si&&an hie on bogum brun yppinge modwwga mcest. Read
si&ftan hie on hog am hran yrringa modwiega msest ' when the greatest
of angry waves furiously seized them by the heels/ The copyist has
been careless here with the consonants.
1. 500. m&gen eall gedreas &a pe gedrecte. For &a fie read deafie,
Miscellaneous Notes 61
and for gedrecte read gedrencte, which argrees with the plural idea in
m&gen.
Riddles (Gr.-W., in, 183).
n, 10. MS. beamas fylle holme gehrefed. Read helme ' tree-top,' for
holme.
IV, 24. MS. p&r bid1 hlud wudu brimgiesta breahtm. Read wada for
wudu and transl. ' there will be the loud crash of the waters, of the sea-
travellers (i.e. waves).'
xvi, 15. MS. hine beraft breast. Read hi ne beria& breost ' they (i.e.
my young ones) do not leave (lit. lay bare) my breast.'
I. 16. MS. nele frtet r&d teale. Read ne ic for nele and transl. ' I do
not consider that advisable ' ; cp. Beowulf 1. 2027, frset, rsed talaft.
LVI, 15. MS. se hine on mede wordum secgan hu se wudu hatte. For
hine on mede read him ne ormede ' despairs not/ Ormedan is not found
elsewhere, but is a regular derivative from ormod. A finite verb is
necessary to the sense.
LIX, 25. MS. ofer heahhofu ; read heahhafu ' deep seas.'
Rhyme Poem (Gr.-W., m, 160).
II. 6-8. MS. frtetwed weegon wic ofer ivongum wennan gongum lisse
mid longum leoma getongum. Taking wennan as Kentish for wynnum,
we transl. ' (Gaily) caparisoned steeds bore me, rejoicing and delighted,
in long rambles amid the branches (of the forest).'
1. 9. Read onstreaht for onspreht.
1. 18. MS. frenden wtes ic mtegen. Read penden wi&s ic on hyhte, to
rhyme with gepyhte.
W. J. SEDGEFIELD.
MANCHESTER.
'BENGEMENES JOHNSONES SHAKE.'
The entry of the 28th of July, 1597, in Henslowes Diary1, whereby
Henslowe acknowledges that he had received 'of Bengemenes Johnsones
Share' the sum of 3s. 9d., has never, I think, been satisfactorily explained,
though it has frequently been dealt with. At any r^e, no less an
authority than Dr Greg considers that the meaning of the entry is still
an open question2. What exactly was the nature of Jonson's 'share'?
I propose an answer which suggests itself to me after a study of certain
analogous entries in the Diary. To present my point adequately it will
be necessary to say a preliminary word about Elizabethan theatrical
1 Ed. W. W. Greg, i, p. 47.
2 See below, p. 64, n. 1.
62 Miscellaneous Notes
' shares ' and ' sharers/ and to review the explanations of the entry that
have hitherto been offered.
In the Elizabethan theatre there were at least two types of sharers :
first, the ' actor-sharers,' that is to say, the eight or ten mature players who
had passed beyond the 'hireling' stage. Each actor-sharer's income
consisted of his part of the company's share in the daily takings. That
share, at the time with which we are concerned, was made up of the
general admission receipts at the door, plus one-half the extra money
collected in the galleries — for it is well known that in those days each
man paid his penny or twopence on entering the house, and additional
sums if he desired a place in the galleries, the boxes, or on the stage1.
The other half of the gallery money went to the second type of ' sharer,'
— the ' housekeepers,' or proprietors of the playhouses. Here it should
be noted — as Dr Greg has shown2 — that Henslowe frequently impounded
his companies' share of the gallery receipts by way of security for the
money he lent them to buy costumes and properties3. More significant
for our purposes is a point which has not had the attention it deserves ;
namely, that Henslowe was in the habit of doing for individual actor-
sharers just what he sometimes did for the companies at large. He
repeatedly made loans to individual players, and recouped himself by
attaching their part of the company's gallery money. Since the ' gathering '
was done by the housekeepers or their employees4, the process was simple.
I shall try to show in a moment that the Jonson entry was but one of
many which record similar liquidations of debts incurred by Henslowe 's
actor-sharers.
Let us look, meanwhile, at two other transactions between Jonson
and Henslowe which are intimately connected with the entry in question.
We have seen that on July 28, 1597, Jonson paid Henslowe 3s. 9d. upon
a debt he owed him. Henslowe also notes that ' Bengemen Johnson
Plaier ' had borrowed 5s. from him six months earlier5, and that, on the
very day he paid the 3s. 9d., he borrowed another £46. What is the
meaning of these several transactions, and from what sort of a ' share '
of Jonson's did Henslowe draw the smaller amount ? Fleay thought7 it
1 I have discussed these matters at length in Studies in Philology, April, 1918, and
Publications Modn. Lang. Assn. of America, March, 1920. Shakspere, and other exceptional
actor- sharers, were also housekeepers and thus shared twice.
2 Henslowe's Diary, n, 124.
3 His 1613 contract with the Lady Elizabeth's Men specifically provided that this
security be allowed him. See Henslowe Papers, ed. Greg, p. 24.
4 Ibid., p. 3.
5 January 5, 1597. See H. D., i, p. 200.
6 Ibid., i, 200.
7 English Drama, i, p. 342.
Miscellaneous Notes 63
could 'hardly have been a share in the Rose, much more likely in Paris
Garden, where Jonson played Zulziman,' according to Horace's admission
in Satiromastix (acted 1601) :
Tucca. Thou hast been at Parris garden, hast not ?
Horace. Yes Captaine I ha plaide Zulziman there1.
' The smallness of the amount ' Jonson paid Henslowe on July 28,
1597, leads Mr J. T. Murray to agree that the poet could not have been
buying a share in the Rose, but, since Paris Garden — the Bear Garden,
to be more exact — was an older and poorer house, Murray accepts as a
plausible conjecture Fleay's view that Jonson held a proprietary share
in that house2.
There are, however, many reasons for doubting this explanation. In
the first place, the Satiromastix passage alludes to an early stage of
Jonson's career3, and it seems clear that at the time he was acting at
the Bear Garden he had but recently graduated from the ranks of the
strollers and had yet to win his reputation as a playwright. It is well
to recall, therefore, that the owners of proprietary shares in the theatres
were at that time of two types only : either successful business men who
were able to invest substantial sums of money, or actors and playwrights
who stood at the very top of their profession4. Indeed, there is no real
evidence to show that any actors or playwrights owned proprietary
shares until the Burbages built the Globe in 1599, when, according to
Cuthbert Burbage, they 'joyned to ourselves those deserveing men,
Shakspere, Hemings...and others... partners in the proffittes of that they
call the House5.' In any case, Alleyn and Henslowe and Jacob Meade,
waterman, appear to have been the sole owners of the Bear Garden and
the Hope, which replaced it later6. Nor is there any other entry in the
Diary which would justify the conclusion that Henslowe ever impounded
a housekeeper's share.
He certainly did frequently lend money to individual actor-sharers,
and then collected from their gallery money. On September 4, 1602,
for example, he lent half a crown to Thomas Heywood, then an actor-
sharer in Worcester's Men, to 'bye hime a payer of sylke garters7,' and
though in this case we have no record of a liquidation of tfte debt, there
1 Scene 7. Ed. Scherer, p. 46.
2 English Dramatic Companies, n, p. 144.
3 Ibid., n, p. 145.
4 Cf. the 1635 Globe and Blackfriars Share Papers, Halliwell-Phillipps, Outlines, i,
p. 312 ff., and the mass of theatrical litigation discovered by Professor Wallace and others.
(Bibliography in Sir Sidney Lee's 1916 ed. of the Life of Shakespeare, p. 310.)
5 Halliwell-Phillipps, op. cit., i, 317.
6 Greg, H. D., n, pp. 37-41 ; cf. Hensl. Papers, p. 19.
7 H. D., i, p. 178.
64 Miscellaneous Notes
are a number of other cases where both loan and settlement are accounted
for. Before examining them, let us look at Dr Greg's statement con-
cerning the entry we are discussing. 'Jonson,' he says1, 'is... said to
have acted himself, and, indeed, Henslowe describes him as " player " in
the Diary. It is also possible that he may at one time have contemplated
acquiring a share in the Admiral's Company! He then notes the payment
of 3s. 9d., and adds, ' but no further payments seem to have been made.
Of course the entry may refer to something quite different/ Dr Greg,
too, seems to have thought that Jonson may have been paying an instal-
ment upon a share he had bought. Here it should be said that if Jonson
was then acquiring a share in the Admiral's Men (in the company, be it
noted, as distinct from the playhouse) he would scarcely have paid an
instalment upon the purchase to Henslowe, who was chief housekeeper,
but not a member of the company.
The fact of the matter seems to be not that Jonson was paying for a
share he expected to buy, but that he was an actor-sharer at the time,
and that Henslowe was recouping himself for an earlier loan to the poet
— from Bengemenes Johnsones share of the gallery takings. This was
exactly wnat he did eight months later for another one of his actor-
sharers, none other than Gabriel Spencer, whom Ben killed very shortly
after2. From March 10 to April 5, 1598, Spencer obtained from Henslowe
personal loans amounting to 46s.8 A day later, on April 6, Henslowe
was beginning to get his money back, for he notes that he had received
'of gabrell spencer... of his share in the gallereyes,' 5s. 6d., — an entry
almost identical with that ' of Bengemenes Johnsones Share4.' Probably
just such another series of transactions was that between Henslowe and
Humphrey Jeffes, another actor-sharer in the Admiral's Men. On April 6,
1598, once more, Jeffes borrowed from Henslowe 20s. 'In Redy mony6.'
Probably there had been earlier borrowings, for, beginning with January
14, 1597, Henslowe was receiving regular weekly payments 'of humfreye
Jeaffes hallffe sheare6.' At all events, the debt of April 6, 1598, seems to
have been taken care of, for, beginning on April 29 and for several
months after, Henslowe started to keep ' A Juste acownte of all suche
moneye as I dooe Receue for vmfrey Jeaffes and antoney Jeaffes7' — pay-
1 H. D., ii, pp. 288-9.
2 Cf. Hensl. Papers, p. 48.
3 H.D., i, p. 75. He was also concerned, with one of his fellows, in another loan of
30s., on March 8, 1598. (Ibid., i, p. 73.)
4 Ibid,, i, p. 63.
6 And further sums of 35s. later. H. D., i, p. 64.
6 Ibid., i, p. 67.
7 Another sharer in the Admiral's Men and perhaps a brother of Humphrey ? See H . D. ,
i,64.
Miscellaneous Notes 65
merits, usually, of half a crown each week. Three years later, when the
Admiral's Men had moved to the Fortune, their actor-sharers apparently
borrowed and paid in the old way. Between June 30 and Septem-
ber 5, 1601, Henslowe received from four of them, Richard Jones,
Thomas Dowton, Robert Shaw, and William Bird, a number of weekly
payments towards 'ther privet deats wch. they owe vnto me1.' In any
one week the four paid identical amounts, but these amounts vary from
one week to the next — a fact which suggests that the payments came
from a common source : doubtless each man's part of the company's
gallery takings. Henslowe, in short, regularly lent money to his actor-
sharers, and as regularly collected from the earnings of their shares. It
seems a fair inference, then, that Gabriel Spencer's share and Humphrey
Jeffes and Ben Jonson's were all of a kind, and that Jonson in 1597 was
not a part owner of the Rose nor yet the Bear Garden, but an actor-
sharer in the Admiral's Men. Like Shakespeare, Heywood, Nathaniel
Field, and many another playwright, he scored his first success as an
actor, for the actor-sharers were players who had made their mark.
ALWIN THALER.
BERKELEY, GAL., U.S.A.
AN ALLUSION IN BROWNE'S 'RELIGIO MEDICI.'
In Part I, Section 30 of the Religio Medici we read : ' As the Devil
is concealed and denyed by some, so GOD and good Angels are pretended
by others, whereof the late defection of the Maid of Germany hath left
a pregnant example.'
A MS. which was in Wilkins' possession when he edited the Religio
Medici in 1836 had the following note attached to the words 'Maid of
Germany,' ' That lived without meat, on the smell of a rose.' The same
MS. for ' defection ' had ' detection.' I am informed that another MS.
(unknown to Wilkins) which has been for 200 years in the library of
St John's College, Cambridge (class-mark H. 15), agrees with Wilkins'
MS. in both respects.
It is probably an open question whether the gloss on the words ' Maid
of Germany' was added by Browne himself, or by some on^else on a MS.
then in his hands. It is also uncertain whether Browne is responsible
for the two forms ' defection ' and ' detection,' or whether one of them is
a corruption of what Browne wrote, and in this case which is Browne's
word and which is the corruption. Further if Browne wrote 'defection/
in what sense did he use the word ?
i H.D., i, p. 162.
M.L.R.XVI. 5
66 Miscellaneous Notes
The allusion to the maiden ' that lived without meat on the smell of
a rose ' appears to have had no light thrown on it by Browne's commen-
tators. It seems, however, to be illustrated by a ballad of the beginning
of the seventeenth century preserved in MS. in Lord Macclesfield's library
and printed by Mr Andrew Clark in the Shirburn Ballads (1907) p. 54.
The heading is : * Of a maide nowe dwelling at the towne of meurs in
dutchland, that hath not taken any foode these 16 yeares, and is not
yet neither hungry nor thirsty ; the which maide hath lately been pre-
sented to the lady elizabeth, the king's daughter of england. This song
was made by the maide her selfe, and now translated into english.'
The maid is made to say :
No thirst nor hunger me annoy es,
nor weakenes my estate ;
But Hues like one that's finely fed
with dainties delicate.
For daily in my hand I beare
a pleasant smelling flower,
Which to maintaine me safe in health
hath still the blessed power.
She goes on — in agreement with Browne's account of his Maid of
Germany — to claim divine assistance :
Then yeelded I the lord aboue
eternall laude and prase
That thus hath made me in my life
a wonder of these daies.
It seems likely that the maid of the ballad was the one that was in
the mind of Browne's annotator : and if the annotator was Browne him-
self she was his Maid of Germany. But the ballad throws no light on
the ' detection ' or ' defection ' of the Maid. Whichever of the two words
is the authentic one, the general sense of Browne's allusion would lead
us to suppose that the Maid of Germany was somehow convicted of
fraud, or gave way under examination.
G. WOLEDGE.
LEEDS.
DOORS AND CURTAINS IN RESTORATION THEATRES.
There still remain, it is true, 'a few moot points in regard to... the
theatres of the Restoration,' but the number, position, and use of stage
doors in the Theatre Royal and at Lincoln's Inn Fields in the days
of Dryden are no longer obscure points and difficulties. Mr Allardyce
Nicoll, however, who speaks of the stage doors as a ' minor detail/ and
almost apologizes for attaching any consequence to 'such apparent
Miscellaneous Notes 67
trivialities,' whereas in reality they were an extremely important, promi-
nent, and long-enduring1 feature of the theatre, does not seem aware
that the whole question of stage doors in the Restoration play-houses
has already been fully examined and the actual facts clearly established.
Commenting upon a stage direction in The Rover, I : ' Enter two Bravoes,
and hang up a great picture of Angelica's, against the Balcony, and two
little ones at each side of the Door,' I gave a detailed account of the
balconies and doors and showed that ' if required, all four balconies, and
more frequently, all four doors could be and were employed2.' I was
largely helped in my investigations by Mr W. J. Lawrence's discovery of
Sir Christopher Wren's designs for the second Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane, 1674. These Mr Lawrence most generously placed at my disposal.
All this is completely ignored by Mr Nicoll.
In his recent essay3, Mr Nicoll having occasion to refer to Mr R. W.
Lowe's Thomas Betterton (1889) praises this painstaking and indeed
valuable study with more enthusiasm than knowledge. To speak of
Mr Lowe's 'almost unerring theatrical judgment' is more creditable
than critical. The book deserves warm commendation, but it is by no
means so free from faults as Mr Nicoll believes, and more than a word
of caution is necessary to those who use it. One serious blemish is that,
pp. 188-9, Lowe gives a list of ' Characters played by Betterton. In
addition to those mentioned in text,' the dates ranging from 1661 —
1708-9. This list Lowe wholly based upon Genest, and it follows that in
many cases the dates are entirely erroneous. Thus Mrs Behn's The Forcd
Marriage was produced in December, 1670, at the Duke's Theatre,
Lincoln's Inn Fields. Lowe, following Genest, gives 1672. Mr Nicoll here
falls into a double mistake, for he writes that The Forc'd Marriage was
produced at Dorset Gardens, 1672. The Atheist, which Lowe dates 1684,
was produced in May or June 1683. Lee's The Massacre of Paris was
produced in the autumn of 1689, not in 1690. There are blunders also
in the body of the book : Otway's The History and Fall of Gains Marius,
produced in 1679, preceded not followed The Orphan, produced in the
early months (probably February) 1680. Lowe places The Orphan before
Caius Marius and dates both tragedies 1680 (p. 122).
In the course of his article Mr Nicoll cites various stage directions
from John Banks' The Albion Queens: or, The Death of Mary Queen of
Scotland, 4to, 1704. In this tragedy the Duke of Norfolk was acted by
1 SeeW. J. Lawrence, The Elizabethan Playhouse: Proscenium Doors, p. 189, and the
present writer's edition of The Rehearsal (1914), p. 104.
2 Mrs Behn, vol. i, pp. 441-2.
3 Modern Language Revieiv, vol. xv, p. 137.
5—2
68 Miscellaneous Notes
Wilks ; Morton by Mills. On page 2 of the quarto we have— 'A LETTER
for Mr Wilks.' Norfolk actually enters some forty lines later. On page 5
we have in similar fashion — ' A LETTER for Mr Mills.' Some thirty or
forty lines later Morton, Courtiers, Guards, ' are discover'd at the throne '
in attendance upon Queen Elizabeth. (Morton is not made to enter as
Mr Nicoll asserts.) The sense of these two prompter's directions is
abundantly clear, but Mr Nicoll does not hesitate to inform us that : ' The
"letter" seems to have been a contemporary theatrical phrase for a
" call," ' a statement which is as unwarranted as it is patently absurd.
The two letters are, of course, property letters which later in this act are
very necessary to the business of the play. If Mr Nicoll had completed
his reading of The A Ibion Queens he would have found that Morton hands
a letter to Queen Elizabeth exclaiming :
behold, a letter
By Navus wrote ; and sign'd with her own Hand. (p. 8) ;
and later (p. 10) Norfolk also presents a letter from Mary, Queen o'
Scots, saying boldly to Elizabeth :
Here is a Letter from that Guilty fair one ?
She bid me thus present it on my Knees.
These two letters are all-important to the conduct of the scene.
That the curtain in a Restoration theatre was raised after the delivery
of the Prologue can be amply proved1. The speaker made an entrance
through one of the Proscenium doors and addressed the audience from
the apron, 'well forward.' The Prologue to D'Urfey's The Marriage-
Hater Match' d, produced at the Theatre Royal in the winter of 1691,
was spoken by Mountford, who acted Sir Philip Freewit, and Mrs
Bracegirdle who acted Phoebe, disguised in boy's clothes as Lovewell.
' Prologue. Mr Monford Enters, meets Mrs Bracegirdle dressed in Boy's
Cloaths, who seemingly Endeavours to go back, but he taking hold of
her, Speaks' :
Monf. Nay, Madam, there's no turning back alone ;
Now you are Enter'd, faith you must go on ;
And speak the Prologue, you for those are Fam'd.
The Prologue ends : ' — and so let's off. Exeunt.' Then commences :
'Act I, scene 1. Enter Sir Philip and Lovewell.' Obviously after the
Prologue Mountford and Mrs Bracegirdle retired, the curtain was raised,
and they again entered to begin the first scene.
The Prologue to The Innocent Mistress, a comedy by Mrs Mary Pix,
1 There are exceptions, but very few ; e.g. Dryden and Howard's The Indian Queen
(Theatre Eoyal, Jan. 1664). 'Prologue, As the Musick plays a soft Air, the Curtain rises
slowly, and discovers an Indian Boy and Girl sleeping... '
Miscellaneous Notes 69
produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1697, was spoken by Verbruggen,
who acted Sir Francis Wild love. Act I commences : ' Sir Francis Wildlove
in his Chamber Dressing with Searchwell his man.' Searchwell was
played by Knap.
The curious Prologue to D'Urfey's The Virtuous Wife] or, Good
Luck at Last, produced at the Duke's Theatre in 1679 — not 1680 as
Dr Forsythe erroneously states1 — deserves particular attention. It was
' spoke by Mrs Barrer ' who says :
I'll give o'er
Desert the Muses Cause and play no more ;
For Vnderhil, Jevan Currier, Tony Lee,
Nokes, all have better Characters than me.
whereupon ' Lee peeps out of a little window over the Stage.'
Lee. What Mrs Barrer ! hah — what's that you say ?
This is a Plot, a trick — 'tvvixt you and Nokes.
Nokes peeps out of a little Window the other side of the Stage.
Presently Mrs Barry declares :
be friends, I'll Act — for once I'll trye.
Lee. Why then all's well again (shuts one Window.
Nokes. And so say I— — shuts t'other Window.
The existence of these little windows, which obviously had shutters
to open or close, has not, I think, been noted by any writer on the
Restoration theatre. One of the windows is used in Mrs Behn's The
Round-Heads ; or, The Good Old Cause (produced at the Duke's
Theatre, 1681-2) Act v, Scene 3, when, after the soldiers have gone off
cheering and shouting Viva les Heroicks, Fleetwood, 'peeping out of a
Garret Window? calls on the lay elder, Ananias.
That the curtain in a Restoration theatre, having been raised after
the Prologue, was not lowered between the acts has been shown so
clearly and in such scholarly detail by Mr W. J. Lawrence that any
recapitulation of his arguments would be the merest impertinence. He
is followed by all authorities on this period. Accordingly when Mr Nicoll
writes that the curtain 'seems... to have been employed with ever-
increasing frequency between the acts' he is venturing a statement
which, utterly unsupported by any evidence as it is, must be pronounced
something more than temerarious. It is true that Mr Nicoll cites four
examples to support his theory. Of these Settle's Canibyses, King of
Persia (Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1666) and Sir Robert Howard's The Sur-
prisal (Theatre Royal, 1665) are wholly beside the point. In each play
1 'A Study of the Plays of Thomas D'Urfey. Part I.' Western Reserve University
Bulletins, May 1916.
70 Miscellaneous Notes
there is a presentation of a masque which required special arrangement
in setting the scenes. The Stage Direction, Act n, of Mrs Behn's The
Forcd Marriage, Mr Nicoll, apparently relying upon the corrupt text of
1724, misquotes. ' The Curtain is let down, and soft Musick plays ' should
be ' The Curtain must be let down and soft Musick must play! The very
wording of this direction shows it to be exceptional and I have drawn
attention to the point in my Mrs Behn, vol. in, p. 472 and p. 493, both
in the Textual and Critical notes. It is equally obvious that the example
quoted from The Young Ring (Dorset Gardens, 1679) is also exceptional :
' Act in, Scene 1. The Curtain is let down.' This was so used for ' a special
show piece of theatrical business/ the discovery of Orsames seated on
his throne in full state, with On either side of the Stage, Courtiers ready
drest, and multitude of Lights. In fine, in the Restoration theatre the
curtain did not fall between the acts, but the conclusion of each act was
shown by a clear stage. This has been the actual practice in the recent
revivals by the Stage Society and the Phoenix of comedies by Congreve,
Vanbrugh, and Dryden, and it has proved extraordinarily effective.
' The curtain/ writes Mr Nicoll, ' seems in most cases to have been
lowered before the Epilogue/ To prove this amply several instances are
cited from Orrery's works. No more unfortunate examples could have
been chosen. Orrery's plays are largely spectacular, and on account of
their magnificent mounting, scenic display, pomp and crowds, they de-
manded special production and a particular use of the curtain. They are
exceptional altogether. The same remarks equally apply to the operatic
The Prophetess : or, The History of Dioclesian, put on by Betterton at
Dorset Gardens in 1690.
Innumerable examples could be quoted to show that the Epilogue
was spoken before the curtain fell. A few of the most striking must
suffice. At the conclusion of Sir Robert Howard's The Vestal Virgin:
or, The Roman Ladies (Theatre Royal, 1664) 'Just as the last Words were
spoke Mr Lacy enter'd and spoke the Epilogue/ which commences :
By your leave, Gentlemen —
After a sad and dismal Tragedy
I do suppose that few expected me.
Sir Robert Howard altered the play, and it was Acted the Comical Way.
We then have ' Epilogue spoken by Mr Lacy, who is suppos'd to enter
as intending to speak the Epilogue for the Tragedy.'
By your leave, Gentlem How ! what do I see !
How ! all alive ! Then there's no use for me.
'Troth, I rejoice you are reviv'd agen ;
And so farewell, good living Gentlemen.
/. Nay, Mr Lacy. La. What wou'd you have with me '?
Miscellaneous Notes 71
The Epilogue to Crowne's Juliana ; or, The Princess of Poland
(Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1671) is spoken by Mrs Long (Paulina) and Angel
(the Landlord). If the curtain had fallen all point would be lost. The
Epilogue to Crowne's The Destruction of Jerusalem, Part n (Theatre
Royal, 1677) was spoken by Mrs Marshall (Berenice). Berenice had left the
stage some eighteen lines before Kynaston as Titus declaimed the final
tag, and The Play ended, Mrs Marshall returns and speaks The Epilogue
in the character of Queen Berenice. The Epilogue to Ravenscroft's popular
The London Cuckolds (Dorset Gardens, 1681) is spoken by no less than
seven actors, Smith (Ramble), Mrs Currer (Eugenia), Leigh (Dashwell),
Mrs Barry (Arabella), Nokes (Doodle), Underbill (Wiseacre), and Mrs
Petty (Peggy). It would have been more than awkward for these
characters to have left the stage and then returned for the Epilogue.
The Epilogue to Mountford's The Successful Strangers (Theatre Royal,
1690) was 'Spoke by Mr Nokes, Mr Lee, and Mr Mountfort!
Mr Nokes pulling Mr Mountfort. Nay, Prithee corne forward and ben't so ashamed.
Mr Lee. Time enough to be sad when thou;rt sure thy
Play's darnn'd ;
and nineteen lines later we have ' [Mount, bows to Audi, and Exit.].'
Had the curtain already fallen this business would have been impossible.
There is a passage in Davies' Dramatic Miscellanies (1784), vol. in,
p. 391, which has extremely puzzled writers upon Congreve, but which
is quite clear when we remember that at the end of a play the actors
remained grouped upon the stage whilst the speaker of the Epilogue
advanced or entered, as the case might be. Davies writes : ' The stage,
perhaps, never produced four such handsome women, at once, as Mrs
Barry, Mrs Bracegirdle, Mrs Mountford, and Mrs Bowman : when they
appeared together in the last scene of the Old Batchelor, the audience
was struck with so fine a groupe of beauty, and broke out into loud
applauses.' Mr Gosse, referring to this anecdote (Life of William Congreve,
p. 57), says: 'No doubt the fact is correct, except in one particular:
Mrs Barry had nothing to do on the stage in the last scene. She acted
Letitia Fondlewife; but if we replace Mrs Barry by Mrs Leigh, the
quartet is again complete.' No such change is necessary. Mrs Bracegirdle
(Araminta), Mrs Mountford (Belinda), Mrs Bowman (Sylvia), were on
the stage when Betterton (Heartwell) spoke the last lines, and Mrs Barry,
entering to deliver the Epilogue, completed the quartet of beautiful
actresses, although Letitia Fondlewife is not seen after Act iv of the
comedy.
MONTAGUE SUMMERS.
LONDON.
REVIEWS,
The Lollard Bible and other Medieval Biblical Versions. By MARGARET
DEANESLY. Cambridge: University Press. 1920. pp. xx + 483.
8vo. 31s. 6d. net.
Miss Deanesly's work is worthy of comparison with that of Samuel
Berger in the variety of its interest and the knowledge that under-
lies it. Her title hardly does her justice; the most interesting and
important part is not the somewhat technical study of particular versions
and texts, but her examination of the attitude of the medieval Church
towards the use of the Bible by the laity and by theological students.
But since her enquiry was prompted by doubts concerning the notion
of an orthodox version anterior to Wyclif's, as Miss Deaiiesly with
a laudable freedom from pedantry calls it, we may congratulate her upon
her complete statement of the proofs to the contrary. Cardinal Gasquet's
guess has long been discredited, but there has not yet been an adequate
refutation of the idea that lay behind it in the mind of Sir Thomas More,
the Cardinal's authority. This was that the fear of misuse had been the
only cause of the discouragement, and even prohibition, of the study of
the Bible, and that it had been sanctioned and promoted where no
danger was felt. Miss Deanesly is able to show that the Bible, as such,
had held but a small place in religious practice and theological study
before the days of controversy, and therefore that it was not the strife
which drove the Book into obscurity. It had never, in the medieval
period, been prominent or popular. The devotional literature from
about 1300, of which Miss Deanesly gives an interesting account, is not
based on the whole Bible but on selected portions, and she shows that
the Vulgate itself was a comparatively rare possession of monastic
houses. It was the religious movement of the generation before Wyclif,
of which Richard Rolle is typical, that created the demand for the parts
of the Bible most suited for meditation, such as the Psalter, in the
vernacular; and in southern Europe this was supplied by Waldensian
versions, the heretical origin of which was suspected neither by the
devout nor by their directors. But the author points out that there is
comparatively little evidence for the use of translations even of the
liturgical portions of the Gospels till the spiritual revival. Then, as she
narrates, the Congregation of the Common Life, gaining the respectable
status of Austin Canons and protecting their lay followers by giving
them position equivalent to that of tertiaries among the Mendicants,
gave a new vogue to the study of the Bible. In the later fourteenth
century there is much evidence for it ; especially, as might be expected,
among devout nuns, for whom a translation was necessary. Miss Deanesly
might have mentioned that after the visitation of an English nunnery
Reviews 73
the bishop's injunctions were always given in English, and the need of
the vernacular would be equally great in the Low Countries. Still,
suspicion remained, and she cites some interesting ' determinations ' by
jurists of Cologne in 1398 in favour of the use of German scriptures by
the laity. They are of the nature of counsel's opinion, supporting the
cause on behalf of which the lawyers were employed, and doubtless the
problem had been stated in such a way as to suggest the answer that
was desired. But at least these determinations prove that the use
of the scripture in modern tongues was not absolutely unlawful, as since
the Waldensian controversy it had been regarded.
This brings us to the very date of the English versions, that of which
Nicholas Hereford was the chief author, made at Oxford while Wyclif 's
movement was still in the academic*stage, arid its revision by John Purvey,
ten years later, completed with its Lollard preface by 1397. Perhaps
the most interesting suggestion in the book is that as it was not Wyclif
himself but his followers who laid stress on the study of the English Bible,
so it was they who translated his writings into English. Miss Deanesly
would localise this work at Leicester, the head of one of John of Gaunt's
earldoms, where Wyclif 's disciples, like their master at Lutterworth in
the same county, found protection.
After the conciliar condemnation of the English Bible in 1408, followed
by the Archbishop's sanction of the translation of St Bonaventure's
Meditations as a substitute for devotional purposes, Miss Deanesly
continues her enquiry. She notes the instances of religious books
bequeathed in wills, and the evidence of monastic catalogues. She is
able to show that the books were few, and that when the English Bible,
or parts of it, were possessed it was by persons of rank, whose confessors
would supervise their reading. Among such must be classed the nuns of
the two wealthy houses of Sion and Barking, where alone among nuns
there is proof that such reading was practised. As for the one rival to
the Wycliffite translation, a rival that had no success, the author
qonnects its scanty remains with Lincoln Cathedral. There is no doubt
of its orthodoxy, or of its failure. When the rise of Humanism is
reached, there is a good statement of the contrary views of Erasmus and
More, who not only judged a priori that a translation made by heretics
must be corrupt and therefore that the existing translation, being honest,
could not be the work of Wyclif s school, but also held that the public
was better without the Book. The story ends with Thomas Cromwell's
injunction of 1538 that the Great Bible should be set up in every
church, which was in itself a notable victory of Humanism.
In this long and leisurely study of evidences for the knowledge and
use of the Bible and of books which might take its place, though much
is rightly drawn from the learned quarterlies much is also an original
contribution to our knowledge. A good deal is inevitably tentative, for
evidence is not exhausted. But it is unlikely in the extreme that the
picture will be seriously modified, and Miss Deanesly has done us
a lasting service by her survey of a wide and varied field. It would be
too much to demand that one pair of eyes should never fail. Bishop Fox
74 Reviews
of Hereford was not the author of the Acts and Memorials', an Arch-
bishop of Metz (several times mentioned) would be vainly sought in
Eubel or Gams; the Diatessaron in its original language for two
centuries took the place of the Gospels in public worship, though the
Codex Fuldensis, its Latin version, had not a widely extended influence.
And who was Palmatus, baptised at Rome about the year 200 ?
Mr Coulton, in introducing this as one of a series of Cambridge
Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, makes high claims which will
doubtless be justified by achievement. But is he not unduly hopeful
when he expects the general public to be interested as deeply in historical
researches as in scientific, if only the accuracy be equal ? After all, what
attracts the world to the physical sciences is that experiments can
always be repeated; if a dye or an explosive has once been invented,
anyone who knows the formula is as well off as the discoverer. But
history is a matter of observation, and the science with which it can
best be compared is astronomy. We do not find that interest in it is
increasing ; and in these days of cheap watches it is probable that we
know and care less about its practical use than did our grandfathers.
E. W. WATSON.
OXFORD.
Early Theories of Translation. By FLORA Ross AMOS. New York :
Columbia University Press ; London : H. Milford. 1920. pp. xv +
184. $2 net.
In this volume a useful piece of work has been done at the cost
of much painstaking research extending over many centuries of our
literature. The subject was not one in which new and surprising
discoveries were to be expected, but it demanded and has engaged
the constant exercise of sound and discriminating judgment, and a
sense of proportion which has forbidden any unnecessary divergence
from the main theme. At the same time, this has not excluded a good
deal of relevant and interesting detail ; and although a manageable
subject could only be obtained by limiting reference to practice as
compared with theory, practice has not been lost sight of, or absence of
standards too readily inferred from absence of express statement.
The work begins with a section on ' The Mediaeval Period/ in which
the treatment of originals was generally very much as the author pleased,
and amid much comment very little theory made its appearance ; followed
by two on 'The Translations of the Bible' and 'The Sixteenth Century'
respectively, in which are separately shown the influence of Biblical
translation and the enthusiasm inspired by the Renaissance, in developing
ideas of progress towards accuracy without obscurity, of the need of
noting the differences and correspondences of the languages involved,
of approximation to the style of an original so as to echo its grace, and,
as expressed by Chapman at least, of the possibility of capturing its
spirit. The last section, 'From Cowley to Pope/ develops the change
Reviews 75
from theory comprised in comment mostly scattered and incidental to
theory considered and formulated by a few men well acquainted with each
other's views. The chief figure is of course Dryden, and effective use is
made, as the subject requires it, of his various reasoned advocacies of
the middle course between literalism and the license championed by
Denham and Cowley, and his illuminating discussion of all related
points. Perhaps he loses something in fulness of treatment by this
convenient method of citing his pronouncements separately as the
argument provokes them, but his pre-eminency does not suffer, and his
claim to be a pioneer in regard to the reproduction of metrical effects
in translating is recognised. Finally, the excellent theories set forth
by Pope in his preface before Homer, and accepted by his contemporaries,
are contrasted with the real sacrifice of fidelity made by him and them to
decorum and the standard of his own diction and style, and the book
ends with Cowper's reaction against such methods.
I now turn to one or two particular points. It is well that attention
should have been drawn to the real freedom, comparatively speaking, of
sixteenth (and early seventeenth) century translators, as contrasted
with Chapman's charge that they ' all so much apply Their pains and
cunning word for word to render Their patient authors,' and to the pre-
valence of the same view in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Indeed it is not yet extinct, and one cannot help feeling that though
no doubt the known practice of Jon son, and his importance, had a good
deal to do with the impression, there must at least have been more
behind it than is here indicated. In the case of Horace, Drant, whose
theory (as set forth in 'To the Reader' before A medicinable Morall,
that is the two Bookes of Horace his Satyres, &c., 1566) is cited as ' most
radical of all ' in regard to ' undue liberty with source,' might also have
been quoted on the other side from his remarks before Horace His arte
of Poetrie, pistles, and Satyrs Englished, &c., 1567, and so, presumably,
according to his second thoughts. After noting the charge that ' the
boke by me thus Englished is harde and difficulte/ he says: 'That it
shoulde not be harde through me what haue I not done which might
be done ? I haue translated him sumtymes at Randun. And nowe at
this last time welnye worde, for word, and lyne for lyne.' Lucans First
Book. Translated line by line, &c., is the title of Marlowe's translation
ofLucan, 1600.
. To the literal seventeenth century translators, May, Sandys, etc.,
who are coupled with Jonson as deepening the impression, Christopher
Wase may be added. His edition of Grati Falisci CynegeMcon appeared
in 1654 with a pleasant commendatory poem by Waller and 'A preface
to the Reader/ in which he expresses his hope that the poem ' may be
understood with ease, and the delight of attending to the elegancies in
it ' may be c rather doubled, then intermitted: by adjoyning a Translation
in equall consort/ He gives ' the sense of the author in a strict Meta-
phrase; the whole 540 Latine verses being rendred into a like number
of English/ and has much to say on the difficulty ' of rendring terms
peculiar to any Art out of one Language into another/ In a short book
76 Revieivs
on an extensive subject omissions are inevitable, bat for their own sakes
I should have liked to see the names of those excellent translators and
friends, Thomas Stanley and Sir Edward Sherburne, in the index.
The conclusion of Sherburne's Life of Seneca (The Tragedies, etc., 1701),
comprising ' A Brief Discourse concerning Translation/ was probably
written after 1691, but the three tragedies given were done long before,
the Medea as early as 1648. Sherburne denies the right of free trans-
lators to appeal to Horace, Nee verbum verbo curabis, by pointing out
that this precept must be taken with its context, and describes his
translation as 'not curtail'd or diminished by a partial Version, nor
lengthened out or augmented by a preposterous Paraphrase; but the
genuine Sense of Seneca in these Tragedies intelligibly delivered, by
a close Adherence to his Words as far as the Propriety of Language
may fairly admit; in Expressions not unpoetical, and Numbers not
unmusical. But representing, as in a Glass, his just Lineaments and
Features, his true Air and Mien, in his own Native Colours, unfarded
with adulterate Paint, and keeping up (at least aiming so to do) his
distinguishing Character, in a word rendring him entire, and like.
Which are the things a Translator should chiefly, if not solely intend.'
Gildon's section on Roscommon's Essay on Translated Verse in his
Laws of Poetry, 1721, supports the attack on rhyme with which that
essay concludes, and which ought to have appeared on p. 161 of
Dr Amos's book, if not elsewhere, in modification of what is there said
as follows: 'Roscommon, whose version of Horace's Art of Poetry is
in blank verse, says that Jonson's translation lacks clearness as a result
not only of his literalness but of the " constraint of rhyme," but makes
no further attack on the couplet as the regular vehicle for translation.'
The attack had already been made. Henry Felton's A Dissertation on
Reading the Classics, And Forming a Just Style Written in the Year
1709, &c. (ed. 3, 1718), deserves mention, in any later edition, for an
attempt to treat with perspicuity and considerable fulness the subject of
translation and imitation; which, in his own opinion at any rate, 'will
appear perhaps in a different Light from any Thing hitherto advanced
upon it.'
The book appears to be very correctly printed, but why should
quotations be modernised, those in Middle English verse excepted, in a
book of this kind ? Henry Brome, on p. 136 and in index, should be
Alexander Brome (Henry was the publisher), and the reference to
note 2 on p. 144 should be removed from 'Brome' to the previous
word. There appears to be a misprint of ' Main ' for ' Maim ' in the
verses on p. 152. On p. 17 the impression is accidentally given that
Alfred's translation of Boethius (not the Metro, only) is in verse.
R. H. CASE.
LIVERPOOL.
Reviews 77
The Percy Reprints. Edited by H. F, B. BRETT-SMITH. No. 1. The
Vnfortvnate Traueller. By THOMAS NASHE. xx + 132 pp. 5s.
No. 2. Gammer Gvrtoris Nedle. By Mr S. Mr of Art. xv + 80 pp.
4s. Qd. Oxford : Basil Blackwell. 1920.
These volumes, excellently printed on good paper and light to hold,
begin a series of reprints which promises to be of much interest and
wide range. It wisely seeks to meet the wants of students by reprinting
texts unaltered in spelling and punctuation, and by recording important
variations and all misprints. This last is unobtrusively done by rele-
gating the misprints to a list at the close of each book, with a view to
the convenience of general readers who are optimistically expected. To
propitiate them further, explanations are reduced to a few pages of notes
in the same place, but all readers would prefer a glossary, at once com-
plete, concise, and frank about the unknown. It is irritating to turn to
notes and draw blank.
The editor's brief introductions are eminently readable. In prefacing
No. 1, The Unfortunate Traveller, he justly deprecates the idea of
imitation of Lazarillo de Tonnes, and draws a distinction between Jack
Wilton and this earliest picaresque hero in rank and motive, which is
both true and important in the main, but not quite impartial. Jack
Wilton is a heartless young rascal, and self-approvingly records how he
tricked a foolish captain into seeking torture and death, while Lazarillo
has a kind heart, some natural principle, and an amusing simplicity of
nature which blends with and qualifies his complacency as a husband.
These points are evident enough to have been seized upon by the best
continuator and used^with good effect.
Nashe, who had behind him the development of the Jest-Book in the
direction of the picaresque novel, Lyly's Euphues, the English Faust book,
the books on coney-catching, and Greene's realistic work, the translations
from Italian, etc., fuses elements resembling all these into a narrative
medley with an historical background. It begins with jests and trickery
(flat, indeed, beside the protracted and fascinating duel between Lazarillo
and the blind beggar), and ends with a crude but forceful intensifica-
tion of the lust and blood of the Italian novella, complicated with the
popular theme of scandalising the Pope and bemonstering the Jew. In
between are found Ascham's horror of Italy, the didacticism of Lyly, the
anti-Martinist's scornful gibing at puritans and all ultra-protestant sects,
the heroical romance element in the story of Surrey and the fair
Geraldine, and ingredients of the book of travel. We may be thankful he
omitted pastoral. The greatest pleasure to be got from the book, and it
is a real one, is the free exercise of Nashe's well-known satirical gifts,
and extraordinary command of language vividly expressive and abusive,
in the editor's words, his ' sovereign gift, the faculty of racy and coloured
speech.' I do not, however, see the point of citing his earlier repudiation
of the charge of imitating Euphues. Some of the features of Lyly's style
are certainly often employed in this book, nor will it do to limit it with
Jusserand ( The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare, note, p. 309)
78 Reviews
' to the mouth of his self-confident good-for-nothing as the finishing
touch of his portrait.' The old banished earl preaches in Lyly's manner,
and Heraclide tries to melt her ravisher by similes, and laments her rape
in the same fashion. In the notes the editor's interpretation of zanie,
p. 83, in an unusual sense asfemme de chambre, seems to me to be quite
put out of court on p. 90, where the husband finds his wife's fellow
victim, ' his simple Zanie Capestrano runne through.' The book is care-
fully edited, and I have noted only two or three unimportant misprints.
No. 2, Gammer Gvrtoris Nedle, supplies an exact and handy reprint
of the second regular English comedy and only existing specimen of
sixteenth century vernacular University comedy. Mr S.'s observation
of character puts his work on a higher plane than would otherwise be
appropriate to its farcical plot and broad humour in rustic dialect,
savouring more than a little of ' the dungy earth.' The editor briefly
but vividly shews the interest of the comedy as a jovial picture of
village life at its date; and in the play itself every character lives, from
Cocke, the merry boy, to Master Baylye, an arbitrator of disputes as
acute and humorous as Justice Clement, without his eccentricity.
Perhaps even the portraiture of the two angry dames, ' alike/ as the
editor says, ' in suspicion and action, yet subtly differentiated in char-
acter,' must yield to that of Hodge. His putting of the male point of
view, when he learns the loss of the needle, on which not only the
whole story turns, but also the mending of his breeches for the courtship
of Kristian Clack, Tom Simson's maid, has only to be read once to be
remembered ever :
Wherto serued your hands and eies, but this your neele to kepe
What deuill had you els to do, ye kept ich wot no sheepe
Cham faine a brode to dyg and delue, in water, myre and claye
Sossing and possing in the durte, sty 11 from day to daye
A hundred thinges that be abrode, cham set to see them weele
And foure of you syt idle at home, and can not keepe a neele.
The editor's notes, so far as they go, are useful and to the point. Perhaps
in suggesting that this (v, ii, 308) is a misprint for 'tis, he has considered
and rejected the possibility of its being the contraction of this is which
sometimes occurs. It would have been well to note (with defence of the
original) the reading fayth! for sayth (I, iii, 17) in Dr Bradley 's text
(Representative English Comedies, ed. Gayley, 1907), and that breafast
(ll, ii, 64) is not a misprint. The following appear to be such, it for if
(n, v, 5) and y for if (v, ii, 196). A welcome addition to the book is
an appendix containing the earlier version of the famous drinking song
in Act n, as printed by Dyce in 1843.
LIVERPOOL. R. H. CASE.
Die Characterprobleme bei Shakespeare. Eine Einfuhrung in das Ver-
stdndnis des Dramatikers. Von LEVIN L. SCHUCKING, Professor an
der Universitat, Breslau. Leipzig: B. Tauchnitz. 1919.
'In all commentating upon Shakespeare, there has been a radical
error never yet mentioned. It is the error of attempting to expound his
Reviews 7 9
characters, to account for their actions, to reconcile their inconsistencies,
not as if they were the coinage of a human brain, but as if they had
been actual existences upon earth.'
E. A. POE, Marginalia : Addenda.
Different ages and countries may have produced poets as great as or
greater than Shakespeare, but none has produced a dramatist who has
harped more intensely and convincingly on the eccentricities, follies,
failures, weaknesses and enormities of human nature. In all the long
procession of his outstanding characters, hardly one has made the best
of his or her life. This disconcerting realism has proved too much for
the Nineteenth Century, and while poets have recreated the actual world,
after their own imaginations, critics (some of them hardly less poetical)
have read into Shakespeare's mimic world the tendencies which they
yearned to feel around them. A reaction was sure to come and since
the dawn of the Twentieth Century, scholars have here and there begun
to treat the problems of Shakespeare in a less idealising spirit. For the
most part, their work has been tentative — isolated monographs on some
particular play or aspect of Shakespeare's dramas. And now, as soon as
Peace is declared there appears a German book which incorporates all
these beginnings, but deals with the whole Shakesperean question com-
prehensively and ex cathedra. It is in fact the first manifesto of the
new movement.
Under these circumstances, it is necessary to give a full analysis of
the argument, all the more as the work has not yet been translated.
Prof. Schticking is thoroughly scientific and practical in his method.
He is not embarking on an appreciation of Shakespeare's genius, or on
an examination of his interpretation of life. He confines his, attention
to the unexpected difficulties which arise in studying Shakespeare's
characters. For he maintains that the puzzles and enigmas ought to be
unexpected. Shakespeare's work was intended to be popular. It did not
rely on the support of a circle or cult, as so many modern poems and
plays have done ; it did not even aim at being modern. The dramatist
seems to have chosen the subjects and the mise- en- scene which appealed
to the ordinary taste and average intelligence of the time and he appears
to have been content with at any rate partial anonymity. And yet his
plays are far less intelligible than many other old compositions destined
for more critical and sophisticated audiences. In Prof. Schucking's
opinion commentators such as Loning, Dowden, Bradley and others are
perplexed and confused because they are out of sympatl^ with Shake-
speare's mind. They have assumed that the poet's intellect was domi-
nated by quite modern speculations, while all the time his creativeness
was moulded and directed by the primitive conditions of the Elizabethan
theatre.
Shakespeare had in view a stage on which the actors practically
mixed with the onlookers and, thanks to this intimacy, retained some-
thing of the atmosphere of story-tellers. So the characters were designed
to be on familiar terms with the audience, to be conscious of their
80 Reviews
presence, to explain their own qualities or comment on the plot and
even to address the spectators personally. Thus Lady Macbeth talks of
her own designs as ' fell/ Cordelia, Brutus and Henry V offend against
the most elementary canon of modesty and lago is openly convinced of
his own villany. But the commmentators, accustomed to the aloofness
of the modern stage, and to its attention to spectacular realism, cannot
understand these inconsistencies. The test example is the character of
Julius Caesar. His self-glorification seems so excessive to modern
theatrical ideas, that Brandes cannot explain his speeches without sup-
posing that this colossus has become a dotard. The truth is that Caesar's
greatness fills the whole piece. He is throughout an heroic character,
masterful in every word and gesture and even after Death his spirit can
conquer the living. To give him individuality, Shakespeare introduced
a number of personal traits — apoplexy, superstition, susceptibility to
flattery — and he thus becomes a man without losing the attributes of
a superman. The audience, even if they had forgotten the Caesar of the
medieval romances, undoubtedly expected the character to make this
impression ; and such impression is necessary to the dramatic situation.
But how could the effect be produced ? The play does not deal with the
'famous victories of Julius Caesar.' In fact he is passive throughout.
He could appear great only by self-praise or by the praise of others.
Shakespeare probably had less scruple in employing self-praise because
there was already a dramatic tradition to represent Caesar in the spirit
of Seneca's Hercules Oetaeus. But the dramatist had another and very
likely more cogent reason in that no other personage could be suitably
employed at the beginning of the play to praise Caesar, whereas the
audience were quite prepared for a character to explain his own good
or bad qualities much as the old figures in the moralities introduced
themselves with ' I am....'
This objective treatment is the first essential difference between the
modern and the Shakespearean theatres. The figures sometimes express
not what would really be passing in their own minds, but what the
spectators are intended to think about them or about the situation.
Next to self-revelation, comes the light thrown on leading characters
by their associates, such as the mob's opinion of Coriolanus or Oliver's
admiration for Orlando whom he is trying to kill, or Edmund's apprecia-
tion of Edgar. Troilus is a good example. He is treated with contempt
or with pity by commentators such as Kreyssig, Wolff, Tatlock. Yet his
description of himself and his portrait by Ulysses make it clear that in
reality he is an heroic character, sincere and passionate, who is learning
his first lesson in the faithlessness of women. Similarly Macbeth is not
a man of action and of iron will, as Ulrici, Kreyssig and Brandes
imagine, nor in the first place an intellectual with an over-active
imagination as Raleigh thinks. The key to his character is found in
Lady Macbeth's portrait of her husband in act I, sc. 5, and all through
the play her attitude shows that his struggle is against weakness and
irresolution, not against his better nature. Thus many of Shakespeare's
speeches are not illustrative of the speakers but of the characters which
Reviews 8 1
they describe, or of some other topic on which the dramatist wishes to
speak, as when he makes Mercutio describe dreams or Polonius give his
paternal counsel, so full of wisdom and epigram.
If commentators had noticed this feature of Elizabethan technique,
they would have been saved from many blunders such as Vischer,
Conrad, Wolff and Loning make, when they attempt to explain some
speech which Shakespeare composed without bothering to adapt it to
the speaker. Commentators would have avoided even more ludicrous
mistakes, if they had realised the next important difference between
the primitive and modern theatre, namely that not only speeches but
whole scenes are sometimes isolated from the plot and have a denouement
of their own. Riinelin goes so far as to say that scenes, such as the
wooing of Anne by Richard III (i, 2), have an isolated completeness.
At any rate there is a tendency to heighten scene-effects at the expense
of the whole and to introduce words or statements, as Goethe pointed
out, which are inconsistent with the rest of the plot, but give a greater
force or completeness to particular episodes. Generally speaking, this
tendency to construct ' step-by-step,' has had little effect on the unity
of the principal characters, but there is a striking exception in the case
of Cleopatra. In Act I Cleopatra is neither queenly nor truehearted
but a coquette whose mentality centres in sensuality and passion. In
the last acts she becomes essentially noble and as devoted as Juliet or
Desdemona. Critics have looked for some thread of continuity in these
rdles. If Shakespeare had intended the character to be consistent and
to undergo some natural evolution, he would have put an explanatory
speech into the \nouth of Cleopatra or of her associates or, as in the case
of Lady Macbeth, he would have indicated in the opening scenes the
qualities which were to survive in the last act. Probably he began by
vilifying Cleopatra to gratify the conventional idea of a seductress ; or
he inay have intended the character as the copy of some model such as
1 the dark lady of the sonnets.' Then towards the close of the play he
changed his mind, possibly for dramatic effect, and turned his courtesan
into an ideal study.
Antony and Cleopatra does not only exemplify the 'step-by-step'
mode of composition. It will be remembered that after Antony's death,
Cleopatra is fully resolved on suicide, but yet holds back some treasure
and again sends messengers to Caesar. MacCallum and Boas suggest
that her old selfish and covetous instincts have again temporarily got
the better of her. Such an explanation may suit the allusiveness of
modern art but not the methods of the Shakespearean stage. It is far
more likely that the dramatist, however hasty his perusal of Plutarch,
had found there certain episodes which he could not bring himself to
forgo, even though they were no longer in harmony with his now
idealised creation. In fact Shakespeare was so dependent on his data,
thai he sometimes sacrifices his dramatic sense. It almost looks as if he
did not in every case stop to realise the full range of historical facts in
relation to the psychology of his characters. The older school of critics
has gone astray in insisting that the story was secondary and that the
M. L. B. xvi. 6
S.2 Reviews
starting point was the characters and dispositions of the leading figures.
In reality Shakespeare's process seems to have been just the opposite.
He seems to have started with a plot or situation, generally ready-made,
and then, while constructing the individuality of his characters and
filling them with warm life, to have persisted in fitting them into the
prearranged scheme of events. Thus he frequently left discrepancies
which commentators have been at their wit's end to explain away. The
most conspicuous example of ill-adjustment of conduct to character will
be found in Hamlet. The original Hamlet is lost, but from various sources
and models, including Saxo Grammaticus, Der bestrafte Brudermord,
Belleforest and Kyd we may conclude that Shakespeare found the main
outlines of his plot ready to hand, especially the ghost, the motive, the
need of secrecy, the simulation of madness and something of the trap-
laying and game of life-and -death between the murderer and the
avenger. Shakespeare introduced into this framework an addition of
his own : the temperamental melancholic. This type, which has been
analysed by Overbury and exemplified in Hieronimo (Spanish Tragedy),
in Antonio (Antonio's Revenge) and in the comic Lord Dowsecer (A
Humorous Days Mirth) displayed in the age of Shakespeare well-recog-
nised symptoms. The melancholic was inclined to monomania, miso-
gynism, and misanthropy, and this state of mind was betrayed, in his
outward conduct by irritability, intolerance, lack of self-control and
indecision. If the melancholic still retained any healthy instincts, they
led him to music and natural scenery. Such is Hamlet's fundamental
character, as his own words and appearance make clear in the opening
scenes. Shakespeare remains surprisingly true to this first portrait ; the
outward signs are sleeplessness, restlessness, absorption in stray thoughts,
and the inward symptoms are moral weakness, inability to carry out a
plan and irritability which finds vent in his intolerance of Polonius and
in his behaviour at Ophelia's burial. All these qualities are found in
Overbury 's character- sketch, but Shakespeare has developed them so
vividly and daringly and has so far ennobled his hero's perceptions with
regard to his dead father and to Horatio, that modern commentators
have mistaken this ruminating and disillusioned dilettante for an
idealist. But he no more answers to the Elizabethan ideal than he
does to ours. He is amazingly callous in shedding blood. He is brutal
to Ophelia and to his mother, while his erotic fancies and his irrespon/-
sibility are familiar symptoms of melancholy. When he finds the king
at his prayers, he does not spare him out of horror of violence but
because of the Italian belief (incidentally illustrated in The Unfortunate
Traveller) that a ,man must be caught and killed in sin before he can
be made to taste of the full bitterness of death. He is by no means one
of those gentle timid souls, absorbed in questions of world-importance.
He has moments of feverish activity, for he is no coward and like all
weak men is subject to excitability. But he is none the less the typical
melancholic, and, while Laertes plunges into action with all the resolution
of an epic figure, Hamlet, like any other vacillating character, takes
refuge in irony and sarcasm. His censorious attitude has quite wrongly
f
Reviews 83
directed critics such as Ttirck, Wolff and Kuno Fischer to the theoretical
side of his self-expression. Hamlet then is a portrait of Elizabethan
melancholy and though full of perplexities and inconsistencies for the
nineteenth century reader, would at once be recognised and under-
stood by the contemporaries of Shakespeare. It remains to see how far
this pathological case is adapted to a story which descends from the
Dark Ages. Here again the modern critic becomes almost a melan-
cholic himself in his endeavour to reconcile what Shakespeare left
irreconcileable. In the original story, the murder was perpetrated
openly while Amlothe, Amleth or Hamlet was still a child and as the
usurper was prepared for reprisals, the heir had to use cunning. So
Shakespeare's Hamlet has to do the same, and more or less in the same
manner, though his antic disposition, under the altered circumstances,
increases rather than allays suspicion. In an earlier piece, a crazy girl
finds traces of murder, while wandering through a wood, so apparently
for this reason Ophelia was driven mad. She serves no other purpose
except to facilitate the eaves-dropping scene and to occasion Hamlet's
displays of irritability. The character of the usurper king is equally
ill-adapted. In the first court scene he appears as an able, forbearing,
tactful and generous ruler and stepfather. As the story progresses he
shows the tenderest love for his wife, sympathy for Ophelia and courage
and calmness in the rebellion led by Laertes. Yet both Hamlet and his
murdered father describe him as an unnatural and sensual murderer,
and then, in opposition to both these aspects, Hamlet's play moves him
so much that he makes a full confession in his prayer. Whether Claudius
is a criminal debauchee or a courteous man of action, or both, this act
of conscience-stricken self-condemnation is inconsistent with his cha-
racter. Commentators have endeavoured to justify this psychological
discrepancy without realising that no justification was possible or neces-
sary. Self-revelation was a canon of the primitive theatre and this scene
(ill, 3) is inserted out of deference to that tradition.
So far we have discussed the inconsistencies and discrepancies which
arise when Shakespeare adheres too closely to his model. Other dif-
ficulties arise on the few occasions when he unexpectedly abandons it,
as in Lear. He adopts his predecessors' starting point and represents
a king making the division of his kingdom depend on his daughters'
bombastic expressions of love. Critics such as Vischer and Bradley are
mistaken in trying to find an explanation of Lear's amazing conduct.
Shakespeare accepted the situation with all its impossibilities and then
reconstructed the sequel so as to make it suit and expiate, so strange a
beginning. If Lear's attitude to Cordelia was to be in the least convincing,
he must be represented as irrational and abnormal. Now the spectacle
of an old man sinking into idiocy had already become popular in the
character of Titus Andronicus and Kyd's Hieronimo had supplied the
model of a headstrong old man who is wounded by destiny in his
tenderest susceptibilities but continues to fight against the inevitable
till he goes mad. Shakespeare found that both these theatrical successes
would serve as models for his purpose, so he made Lear a man of
6—2
84 Reviews
impulsive anger and of almost insane intolerance. Thus his sudden
vindictiveness against the child of his heart becomes at any rate
intelligible, and throughout the play, Shakespeare sustains and develops
these attributes. And yet the dramatist does not intend his character
to lose the sympathy of the spectators. The whole play emphasises the
three-fold outrage against age, royalty and paternity and none of the
old man's faithful followers make any reproach against his passion. His
very defects are the inverse of his qualities. So once again commentators
are perplexed by these two apparently contradictory aspects of his cha-
racter and search below the surface for some occult explanation. Dowden
and Bradley go so far as to represent the play as a transition from
arrogance and blindness to sympathy and fellow-feeling, through suffering.
The real solution will be found in Shakespeare's desire to create the kind
of man who might well have committed the acts of public and private
folly represented in the opening situation. So he made him the shadow
of a great king, for whom the spectators cannot entirely lose all respect,
but one bordering on insanity, through age and temperament. Then the
dramatist drags him through one calamity after another till his reason
entirely breaks down and he becomes a doting imbecile. Had Lear's
intellect been sufficiently strong to withstand all the shocks that he
endures, his conduct towards Cordelia would have remained inexplicable.
The play is a drama, not of spiritual rebirth, but of decay and collapse
beginning with the disinheriting of his favourite daughter and ending*
in the heart-rending inanities which he gabbles over her corpse.
Thus in Lear the character and the plot correspond, but, it will be
noticed, only so far as the character originates in the plot and continues
to depend on it. In many cases Shakespeare seems to think more of
preserving the plot than of making the characters behave convincingly.
At any rate, when a discrepancy arises, as in Much Ado, All's Well, and
Measure for Measure, the characters are more often at fault than is the
story. This is particularly true when the action is derived from more
than one source, as in the case of the sub-plot in Lear. There is nothing
impossible, or even improbable in a bastard ousting the legitimate son
from the affections of his father, but both Rumelin and Tolstoi have
pointed out how unconvincing Edmund's accusations are and with what
incredible stupidity Edgar contributes towards confirming these sus-
picions. Here again unnecessary attempts have been made to justify
such makeshifts. The real explanation will probably be found in the
discovery that these scenes, however unpsychological, are eminently
' actable.' And if they are not also consistent and true to life, it must
be remembered that Shakespeare sometimes nods.
Sometimes Shakespeare makes his characters act with what looks
like an insufficiency of motive, sometimes he explains and develops their
motives and thereby raises more controversy. Yet he is not obscure.
He is, if anything, over-explicit. But he employs the monologue to
expound his character's thoughts and the commentator, accustomed to
the dialogue of modern plays, will not believe that these figures are
speaking the truth about themselves. For instance Kreyssig, Gervinus,
Reviews 85
Ulrici, Brandes and Bradley all insist that lago's alleged motives are
not genuine and look for others. Yet the Ancient makes it clear that
he really suspected Othello of adultery with Emilia and keenly resented
the promotion of Cassio over his head. Another striking example of the
primitive use of the monologue will be found in Prince Harry's speech
at the beginning of Henry IV Pt I. All attempts by Kreyssig, Brandes
and Wolff to harmonise this speech with the Prince's character are
inadmissible. It is an exposition, statement or description of the situa-
tion, giving a loyal colour to the events. Similarly the rather hypocritical
exhortation to prayer addressed to Falstaff by the same character at the
end of Pt II is another commentary, exalting the position of a king, and
not a speech in which some subtle state of mind is implied.
What is true of the monologues, is true in a greater degree of the
asides ; they are finger-posts to indicate in what direction the characters
are moving. They are rot utterances inspired by some complex mentality
at which the commentator must guess. In fact all that school of criticism
is mistaken, which maintains that Shakespeare was unable to present
his picture objectively and which concludes that any passage needs
expansion and point. In some plays, such as Henry VIII, it must be
confessed that his work seems incomplete and disconnected, and it
cannot be denied that the climax of Antony and Cleopatra, the flight
of the Egyptian queen, is left unexplained. But in the case of nearly
every other disputed point, as for instance Hamlet's madness or Lady
Macbeth's swoon (li, 2), the causes or motives are not given only because
they are obvious. An excellent example will be found in the Taming of
the Shrew. Shakespeare gives no clue as to how a ruffian like Petruchio
really domesticated a spiteful and malignant woman so quickly and
thoroughly. The explanation is simply that there is no explanation;
Shakespeare was merely telling an old tale in the newest and most
surprising way. Katherine was probably copied from one of the ' roaring
boys ' and Petruchio from any soldier of fortune. Yet in spite of the
simplicity and directness of the piece, no play has been so refined and
intellectualised by commentators such as Schomburg, Sievers and Ulrici.
Are there then no other difficulties than those created by the in-
curable modernity of commentators ? Yes, there are some, due to the
dramatist's way of writing. Notwithstanding all arguments to the con-
trary, Shakespeare's work is stamped with the mark of impetuosity and
impulse ; his development as a poet is uncertain, and, despite enormous
progress, he is liable to amazing lapses. We have the lack of concentra-
tion in Antony and Cleopatra, side by side with the studied form of
Othello, the accurate local colour of Romeo and Juliet and the absence
of it in other plays. He gives lago too many motives and Macbeth
too few. To explain these lapses as a device to bring certain points
into relief is to confuse the method of Shakespeare with that of Lenbach
and of Rodin. The most 'likely solution will be found in the personality
of the poet himself. Shakespeare had the gift of assimilating himself to
exceptional and extraordinary natures. He seems to have infused him-
self into all the ramifications of their complex or eccentric temperaments,
86 Reviews
so that he did not analyse their qualities but felt them as a whole. Thus
he puts into their mouths utterances which exactly correspond to the
particular combination of emotions, and which give the effect of the
speaker's personality but which lose their significance if they are
botanised and traced back to their psychological sources ; much as the
different strings of a musical instrument must all sound in unison if
they are to produce a chord. While composing, he probably lived so
intensely in his characters, and identified himself so completely with
their thoughts and feelings, that he sometimes lost the power of looking
at them from outside. As he himself understood their antecedents, he
forgot that the spectator did not, and so he sometimes passed over necessary
information without which the situation cannot be fully appreciated.
Moreover, he seems to have been endowed with an almost praeter-
natural rapidity of thought. We find in his style an unparalleled com-
pression of ideas, rich in images and metaphors. And just as in this
mental shorthand he now and then skips a thought, so in the construe-"
tion of his plot, his mind overleaps some episode which he had imagined
or found in his source-book, and hurries us on to the climax, unconscious
that he had omitted some preliminary. Thus gaps and obscurities arise
in his work, but as they are not intentional, the most obvious explanation
is generally the best. When that is not forthcoming, the commentator
must search for the lost key among the manners and ideas of the age
or in the history of the theatre. Above all he must keep in view the
exigencies of the Elizabethan stage and the taste of the audiences. It
is a task for specialists, not for the unprofessional speculator however
ingenious. Amateurs have worshipped Shakespeare as a god, but like
all votaries, they have made him a god after their own image. They
have read into his pages the thoughts which seemed to them the
most beautiful or the most affecting, until they have made this great
Elizabethan genius as highly sensitised as a twentieth-century intel-
lectual.
Such is Prof. Schticking's solution of the mysteries of Shakespeare's
psychology. The book is full of unostentatious learning and its pages
are enlivened with some almost Heinesque touches of humour arid
sarcasm. At the same time its arrangement is a trifle confusing and its
suggestive theories are propounded in that awkward scholastic style
which, alas ! we have come to expect from academic experts in general,
and from German professors in particular. The present reviewer has in
a few instances altered the sequence of ideas and has in nearly every
instance abandoned the professor's phrasing, in order to allow for con-
densation. In spite of these precautions, the bare analysis of the book,
though far from complete, has exceeded the space available for reviews.
But in any case it was more desirable to expound than to discuss Prof.
Schiicking's views. Most scholars will probably be prepared to accept
his principle and point of view. In fact some of his propositions have
already been enunciated in Dr J. E. Schmidt's Shakespeares Dratnen
und sein Schauspielerberuf, while readers of J. M. Robertson's and
E. E. Stoll's treatises on Hamlet will be struck by some surprising
Reviews 87
similarities, though all three books appeared in 1919. At the same
time, the book raises innumerable points of controversy. A scholar who
propounds a theory is almost bound to over-emphasise certain aspects of
his material. It is doubtful, for instance, whether the professor's estimate
of Lear, Macbeth, Ophelia or Claudius will be accepted as final, while
on the subject of Hamlet no two people can be expected to agree. He
leaves many difficulties unsolved, such as the real significance of the
jesters and of characters like Pandarus and Enobarbus. Above all, his
low estimate of the theatre-going public will not meet with universal
acceptance. However, the full discussion of any one of these questions
would have taken up most of the allotted space, and the first duty of a
reviewer is to give a fair hearing to his author. This is all the more
desirable as mathematical certainty is unobtainable in literary matters,
and the chief merit of a work of criticism or research is to make its
readers think. As such, Die Characterprobleme bei Shakespeare is
indispensable to any scholar and it is good to hear that an English
version will shortly be forthcoming.
H. V. ROUTH.
LONDON.
A History of Modern Colloquial English. By HENRY CECIL WYLD.
London: T. Fisher Unwin. 1920. 8vo. viii + 398pp. 2l5.net.
England, the birth-place of many great grammarians, has never yet
taken any deep interest in her own linguistic studies. With the exception
of Etymology, brought by Skeat, Bradley, Murray, and Craigie within
the range of the general reader, the scientific study of our own tongue
has hitherto been widely regarded as the harmless amusement of
foreigners, whose learned monographs do not call for serious attention
on the part of good patriots.
But what Skeat and his colleagues did for Etymology, has at last
been done for Historical Grammar, which can now make its appeal to
all circles orthe learned, and to wider circles still.
Professor Wyld stands among the great authorities on his subject.
His researches carry weight among specialists, and incidentally he is the
author of the first English text-book to deal as adequately with Modern
as with Medieval English.
With his History of Modern Colloquial English he n^w points out to
the philologist the rightful position of the living language, and to the
historian of literature the close connexion between the history of gram-
mar and the history of thought and of manners.
The book before us is no mere text-book. It does not claim to set
forth all that the student requires to know for the purpose of any exami-
nation, nor does it aim at being an encyclopaedia of its subject. On the
other hand, it is a good deal more than chips from an English workshop :
yet chips there are, as well as finished craftsmanship, enough to set many
88 Reviews
a humble brother working hopefully under the inspiration of the crafts-
master. Underlying the apparent looseness of the plan may be discerned
a two-fold definite purpose. The author will teach in the first place that
grammar is human as well as humane and humanistic, and in the second
place that it is worth studying for oneself in the sources and apart from
teachers and text-books.
Professor Wyld has solved the problem of presenting a difficult sub-
ject in a pleasant form. He demands only one hard task from his reader,
the acquisition of a knowledge of certain elementary phonetic principles ;
but as he sets these forth in the space of two pages and a quarter, and
in a form comprehensible to every schoolboy, it may be assumed that
they will not be entirely beyond the grasp of the cultured.
To come now to some details :
Chap. 1 maps out the field. The significance of the interaction of
' received ' and ' modified standard ' and regional and class dialect is now
made clear by Professor Wyld, and his view of class dialect and the
influence of social changes upon it, must find general acceptance. This
chapter contains most valuable hints to investigators of dialect.
Chap. 2, expository of the Middle English dialect types, is mainly for
professed students of language. From the three or four hundred lines of
well selected and carefully annotated extracts here given, the student
will learn more about this period of the language than from four hundred
pages of M.E. Readers. It may be hoped that p. 55 will be read by all
compilers of text-books on literature, and that the invention of Modern
English will cease to be credited to Chaucer.
Chap. 3 deals with fifteenth century English, and ( the passing of
regional dialect in written English.' One remarks that the author, while
in agreement to a great extent with Zachrisson and Dibelius, lays special
stress on the evidence for class dialect. Very interesting is the cumu-
lative evidence of ' bad spellings ' set forth in the survey of literary
English and London English. The author's estimate of Caxton also
demands attention.
Chap. 4 shews us Standard English reaching maturity in the Tudor
period, with the gradual disappearance of regional dialect from the
language of persons who came under the influence of Court speech.
Professor Wyld points out how the latitude of the standard speech of
the Court, ' the highest type of colloquial English/ was reflected in the
literary language of the day, which was far more closely related to the
spoken language than it is at present. He draws attention to the intimate
connexion between Court circles and the highest forms of literary activity,
and he notes the birth of the idea of ' correct ' pronunciation. A thirty-
page survey of the linguistic forms found in the writings of typical Tudor
personages, among them Lord Berners, Ascham, Lyly, the London citizen
Machyn, and Queen Elizabeth, enables the reader to follow the author's
reasoning step by step.
By the bye, the Queen's i for M.E. long tense e is complicated by
her spelling plisd for pleased. But if her long i was already a diphthong
(slack i or tense e + tense i), the confusion might be explained. I have
Reviews 89
noted indyde in Anne Boleyn's letters, and Shine (Sheen), Quines, and
kiping in the correspondence of John Fowler.
Since the publication of Van Dam and Stoffel's Chapters on English
Printing, scholars have fought somewhat shy of the evidence of printed
literature ; but Professor Wyld's accurate weighing of the matter estab-
lishes his opinion ' that we are justified in regarding the outstanding
linguistic features in printed literature of this period as really reflecting
the individualities of the authors, and not of the printers.'
Chap. 5, from Spenser to Swift, besides developing the preceding line
of argument, is a valuable contribution to the history of prose style.
Proofs are adduced from private documents, which now first reveal their
linguistic secrets. Very interesting is the ascription to the middle classes
of the reaction against slipshod style and pronunciation.
Professor Wyld is perhaps a little severe on the grammarian Butler.
The latter surely means : where all decent folk use the new sound, reform
the spelling ; where some decent folk pronounce according to the tra-
ditional spelling, let the rest do the same. It is no concern of Butler's
whether the reformed pronunciations are 'natural developments' or
' spelling-pronunciations.' Professor Wyld's own view of two seventeenth
century types from M.E. long slack e would seem to justify Butler's
reformed pronunciation of ear ; and Horn's theory of a two-fold develop-
ment of M.E. long tense e before r justifies Butler's hear and dear.
Chap. 6 is a masterly discussion of the stressed vowels in New English.
The chronology of changes is now known to be less simple than the
pioneers Ellis and Sweet supposed. Professor Wyld, while warning us
of the uncertainty of definite dates, by his relative chronology has thrown
strong light on a dark corner ; and his notes on shortenings are lamps
to guide the philologist. Clear exposition and sound reasoning are every-
where united with open-mindedness. A little thing like the note on
Foynes exemplifies the breadth of his knowledge.
In the next edition may we hope to have further information on
short u, the two long o's before r, and the development of M.E. -aught and
-ought ? In support of the diphthongal nature of O.F. u on English soil
one would like to refer to the frequency of M.E. rhymes such as auenture
— bour etc. Can there not have been a centuries-old interaction of Con-
tinental and Anglo-French pronunciation ? In defence of Bellot, I have
noted up(p)en fairly frequently through M.E., from the Twelfth Century
Homilies down to the Norfolk Guilds, and would venture the suggestion
that the stress was still variable in his day.
Chap. 7, on unstressed vowels, and Chap. 8 on consonant changes, are
pioneer work. Professor Wyld has gleaned material from the careless
spellings of the 'best' people. He shews how social changes brought
about the ultimate triumph of the pedagogue over the aristocrat. I am
not yet convinced that morning, with admittedly lost r, has a vowel-
sound identical with that in dawning.
Chap. 9 presents inflexions, not as dull paradigms, but in the form of
six centuries of living speech. The author never loses sight of his main
theme, the development of modern English.
90 Revieivs
Chap. 10, on Colloquial Idiom, indicates new lines of research, and
at the same time will prove of special interest to the student of literature.
It is not unfair to sum up the History of Modern Colloquial English
with the word ' epoch-making.'
J. H. G. GRATTAN.
LONDON.
EDOUARD BONNAFF#. LAnglicisme et Vancflo-americanisme dans la
langue francaise. Dictionnaire etymologiqve et historique des angli-
cismes. Paris, Delagrave. 1920. 8vo. xxiii+193pp. 13 fr.
M. Bonnaffe's book contains (i) a short preface by Professor Brunot,
pp. v-vi, (ii) an introduction in which M. Bonnaffe attempts an historical
account and a succinct appreciation of anglicism in French, pp. vii-xxiii,
then immediately after (iii) the dictionary pp. 1-186, (iv) a valuable
bibliographical index, pp. 187-193, which includes, in addition to
numerous works of all kinds, a list of as many as 155 journals arid
periodicals.
The Dictionary is a record of English loan-words in modern French
by a scholar who is clearly well-acquainted with both French and English
and who has been, as we are told by Professor Brunot, gathering together
materials for this work for the last thirty years. It contains some 1100
words and their derivatives, say 1400 words in all. The articles are
admirably drawn up : the grammatical nature and meaning of each word
is briefly indicated ; a note is added on the English etymology, and, where
possible, the earliest English date is given (e.g. punch, 1 632). M. Bonnatfe
has added very much to the value of his book by giving, for each word, a
set of well-chosen examples of their French use, comprising the oldest
example known to him, and then others at intervals taken from illustrious
authors or from technical works. When the word appears in French at
an earlier period but in a different form, he has inserted a historical
paragraph containing dated instances of the use of such earlier forms.
M. Bonnaffe says that he has found it a difficult and delicate task to
trace the proper limits within which it is possible to admit that a parti-
cular English word is a loan-word in French. He has, in any case, rejected
all words the English origin of which he considers doubtful : he quotes as
examples choc (oper&toire),flibustier, pneumatique (bandage), sensationnel
and vaseline. He has also rejected such anglicisms as appear to him
obsolete and he gives as instances : carrick (light carriage), chair (in
railway terminology), mra(ship), rouque,stage-coach, storm-glass, usquebac,
watchman, iviski (light carriage). For various reasons, I regret the omis-
sion of the latter group, but in any case it should be understood that
M. Bonnaffe's dictionary is an attempt to catalogue the anglicisms most
in use in French of the present day. Before admitting a word into his
list, he insists on three conditions being fulfilled : it must be used not
only in speech, but in writing ; it must be used by well-known writers
or at least in works of real authority on the subject to which it refers ;
it must be used continuously if only by a certain set of persons, technical
Reviews 91
specialists, sportsmen and so forth. It is clear that these restrictions are
of a conventional character, but they are admittedly of practical value.
It appears to me that, if we press the matter to its logical conclusion, an
English word used in a French setting, is a loan-word. The moment we
say or write le boy or la girl we are introducing a loan-word from English
into French. It may not be destined to live, as we say; it may not come
into anything like common use ; it is none the less a loan-word. And
surely any number of words accepted by M. Bonnaffe : bag-pipe or bread-
pudding, fox-terrier or stuffing -box, tough cake or water-jacket have come
into French in that way ? And there can be little doubt that the. same
thing is true of loan-words in all languages. Such words may not retain
their English form ; they may be variously modified : rosbif, ramberge ;
or be translated : armee du salut, bas-bleu. And it should be kept in mind
that, as French and English have a large common vocabulary of Latin
and Greek origin, a word already existing in French at a given moment
may, as we say, acquire a new meaning derived from English sources; as
a matter of fact, we then have two words of similar form (e.g. imperialiste,
lecture, plate-forme) but which differ by their date of introduction into
the language, by their etymology historically considered and by their
meaning; and the, as a general rule, later word is a loan-word from
English.
The first crucial date in the history of anglicism in French is that of
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685. When we consider the
geographical position of France and England, the number of the loan-
words before 1685 is curiously small. If we consider the very conservative
list of 231 modern French words of English source given by the Diction-
naire General we shall find it includes some 24 which go back to medieval
times. The Diet. Gen. itself marks five of them as doubtful : flet, fletan,
flette, hocher, tille. M. Bonnaffe not only rejects these five words, but also,
and I think- rightly, etambrai, gabet, gibelet, lai, lingot, lingue and paquet.
Of the sixteen M. Bonnaffe still considers as certainly borrowed from
English, there are seven which are, to say the least, doubtful : accore,
ecorer, falot, hadot, hanebane, heler, mauve. There remain five : ale,
aubin, carisel (creseau), dogue, esterlin.
The sixteenth century is a particularly barren period. M. Bonnaffe
says : ' Au xvie siecle la vogue est a 1'italianisme, aussi ne prenons-nous
a 1'Angleterre que quelques rares expressions : dogue, ecore " 6tai," falot
" cocasse," heler, mauve, ramberge, shilling.' But nearly all these words
are older. Of dogue M. Bonnaffe himself quotes instances of 1480 and
1406 and it occurs in the fourteenth century in Froissart &! France dogue
'French dog ' He quotes both ecore and ecorer from 1382 and ecore by
its phonetic form is as old as the twelfth century. He gives falot in 1466
from Henri Baude and its English origin is in any case uncertain : cf.
L. Sainean, Revue des etudes rabelaisiennes, vi, 292. He gives heler in
1391 and the word is no doubt much older like many sea- words for
which we have few early texts. Mauve he quotes from 1555 like the
Diet. Gen.: but it is already before 1135 in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire,
1. 2146, where Professor Walberg's reading mave should be corrected to
92 Reviews
maue. There remains ramberge which he quotes from 1550; the form
roberge is already in 1549 in a letter of Henry II: 'La construction et
equipaige d'une vingtaine de roberges,' cf. Kemna, Der Begriff 'Schiff'
im Franzosischen, Marburg, 1902, p. 168.
It is in texts on England that the earliest loan-words occur.
M. Bonnaffe has found fardin, peni, chelin, lord in Estienne Perlin's
Description des royaumes d'Angleterre et d'Escosse (1558). So gaelique,
greyhound, mastiff, master are in Andre Duchesne's Hist, generate
d'Angleterre, d'Irlande et d'Escosse (1614). Of the seventeenth century
M. Bonnaffe says: 'II faut arriver au xviie siecle, ou s'etablit la puissance
navale du royaurne de Grande Bretagne, definitivement constitute, pour
constater un apport sensible d'anglicismes dont une forte proportion,
d'ailleurs, se r6fere aux choses de la marine.' And thereupon he gives us a
list of 41 words which I should classify in three groups.
I. A certain number of miscellaneous words : contredanse (from
1626); mohair, moire (from 1639), on the history of which M. Bonnaffe
has made a valuable contribution; bigle, gigue (from 1650); flanelle,
worsted (from 1656) : under worsted, M. Bonnaffe might have added a
historical paragraph on the O. Fr. ostade, ostadine, which have been
elucidated by Professor Antoine Thomas; boulingrin, quoted from 1680
but already in 1663 under the form poulingrin in Loret's Muze historique
(June 30), cf. first example of E. bowling-green in N. E. D. from Evelyn's
Diary, ad ann. 1646.
II. The sea- words. These are all doubtful. Accore, accorer, ecore,
etroper (estroper) are twelfth-century words. The claims of the Germanic
dialects of the Netherlands have to be considered in the case of all the
others and of many omitted by M. Bonnaffe probably because he sus-
pected their Dutch or Flemish origin.
III. The political, administrative, and religious terms of which a few
are found in isolated texts before 1685 but which are more and more
numerous from that date.
With this last class as well as with anglicisms of all kinds which
appear in French writings of the eighteenth century, I hope to deal in
an article to appear later in this review. Here, I shall do no more than
express surprise that M. Bonnaffe, in his historical account of anglicism
in French, has omitted all reference to the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes. As I have already said, it is the crucial date. The starting-
point for the history of anglicism in French in the eighteenth century is
to be found in the work of the refugees. In my forthcoming article, I
hope to show that M. Bonnaffe has omitted to note in his Dictionary a
considerable number of political and parliamentary, of religious and
historical terms derived from English and appearing for the first time
in French texts of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries ;
that some commercial and colonial terms first to be noted in French at that
time should be added to his list ; and that the influence of English on
the French scientific and philosophical vocabulary and on that of abstract
ideas in general is by him underestimated. It is further my own view
that in the eighteenth century and particularly in the second half of it,
Reviews 93
many French writers took over from English, without any special
acknowledgement, various words of Latin origin ; and only a careful
examination of the sources of French eighteenth century neologism can
confirm the correctness of this opinion. It is certain that owing to the
conservative attitude towards neologism that held sway among French
writers of the late seventeenth century, a large number of words of Latin
origin are attested in their English form before they appear in a French
one. When we have a French dictionary offering the same abundance of
probatory texts as in the N. E. D., some more definite conclusions on this
subject will be possible.
But if French borrows many words from English in the eighteenth
century, in the nineteenth, as M. BonnafTe puts it, 'c'est Tenvahissement/
I imagine that, in the history of anglicism in French, the second crucial
date is 1814-5. English influence in the eighteenth century comes in
great waves, every time (1713, 1748, 1763) there is peace between the
two countries. From 1815 it is continuous.
I incline to think that M. BonnafTe, in spite of all the trouble he has
taken, has not succeeded in giving a full presentation of English influence
on the French vocabulary. No doubt he has included in his book a very
fair proportion of what may be called evident anglicisms ; I say evident
because I have in mind those which retain a purely English form,
pedigree and settler, knock-out and dead-heat. Such words are what
Edmondo de Amicis used to call europeismi', or. rather they might almost
be called world-words for they belong to a really international vocabulary.
A glance at such a work as Alfredo Panzini's Dizionario Moderno (2nd
ed., 1908) will show that a very large proportion of them occur in Italian.
But it is among the words of which the English origin is less evident that
I perceive the gravest lacunae. Of such words M. BonnafTe has mentioned
a few : special meanings of attraction and selection, payer ' rapporter un
be'nefice,' realiser ' comprendre/ suggestif, telescoper. But the omissions
are numerous. Even among the sporting terms, those very words which
have become most French — champion, condition, favori, forme etc. — are
left out. Nothing is said of such political terms as liberal (-isme)
and radical {-isme), or of such words as pauperisms and co-education,
agnostique, utilitaire and international.
But before closing this review I should like to call attention to a few
curious instances of words, none of which are noted by M. BonnafTe, but
which either are certainly taken from English or in one way or another
may show English influence :
(1) salutiste from salut in armee du salut, translated f*>m the English
Salvation army.
(2) landau. The Diet. Gen. derives this word from the town of
Landau. It really comes into French from English : the N. E. D. quotes
lando in the year of the battle of Dettingen (1743). It came into Fr.
after 1815, cf.:
1820 [Defauconpret], Londres en 1819 ; ' Enfin, quelqu'une de
ces voitures dont les noms sont inconnus en France : un tandem, un
tilbury, une barouche, un landau....'
94 Reviews
1823 Arcieu, Diorama de Londres, *p. 137 : ' On voit souvent
passer dans Hyde Park un landau attele de six superbes chevaux....'
1832 Raymond, Diet. Gen.: ' landaulet, s. m. petit landau. — Sorte
de jolie voiture anglaise qui a la forme d'un landau.'
(3) deboiser, deboisement. — See the Revue de Philologie frangaise,
xxvi, 95-6, for the texts quoted by Professor Baldensperger which seem
to prove that the words were first used by Volney in 1803 to express the
English to clear and clearing in speaking of the North American forests.
(4) brise-lames. This word was accepted by the Academie in 1878.
•Mr Charles Moore in a Dissertation for the M.A. degree of Leeds Univer-
sity has suggested that it is a translation of the E. break-water with the
following texts in support of his view:
1818 Charles Dupin, Mem8 sur la marine et les ponts et chaus-
sees de Fr. et d'Angl., p. 241 : ' Elles presentent de fortes asperites
qui forment veritablement un brise-lame ou break- water/ p. 250 :
1 Lorsque des navires arrivent aupres du break-water, ils fixent leurs
cables sur des bouees alignees parallelement.'
1819 J. Dutens, Memoires sur les travaux publics de I'Angleterre,
In trod., p. xiii: 'Une traduction de 1'article de 1'encyclopedie
d'Edimbourg concernant 1'histori^ue du breakwater de Plymouth,'
p. 195: 'des travaux qui s'executent pour la fondation de lajetee
(breakwater) de Plymouth,' p. 208 : ' le brise-lame (breakwater) de
Plymouth.'
1820 J. M. F. Cachin, Mem sur la digue de Cherbourg comparee
au breakwater oujetee de Plymouth, Paris in 4to. (Title).
(5) homme a femmes. It would be interesting to know how far back
this expression goes. In any case compare the following :
1836 Balzac, La Vieille Fille, ed. Calmann-Xievy, p. 4 : ' Chez le
coquet chevalier, tout revelait les mceurs de 1'homme a femmes
(ladies' man).'
M. Bonnaffe's book is one that must appeal to all those who have an
interest in the relations between France and England. I have already
said that it is excellently arranged ; I may add that it is the first serious
attempt to deal with the whole question of anglicism in French. The
length of my review will, I hope, prove my own appreciation of M.
BonnafFe's labours.
LEEDS. PAUL BABBIEB.
LUIGI FOSCOLO BENEDETTO. Le Origini di ' Salammbo ' : Studio sul
realismo storico di G. Flaubert (Pubblicazioni del R. Istituto di
Studi superior! in Firenze: Sezione di Filologia, N. S., Vol. i),
Florence : R. Bemporad. 1920. 8vo. xi + 351pp. L. 25.
Flaubert and Maupassant: A Literary Relationship. By AGNES RUTHER-
FOBD RiDDELL. Chicago : Univ. of Chicago Press ; Cambridge :
Univ. Press. 1920. 8vo. x + 120pp. 6s.
After the lean years of the war it is a pleasure to welcome Luigi
Benedetto's portly volume, with its critical and leisurely survey of autho-
Reviews 95
rities, excerpts from Greek and Latin historians, constant references to
the French critics and to numerous American and German Dissertations,
an imposing array of footnotes and an exhaustive Index — the whole
focussed on a single book, Flaubert's Salammbo. And, what is more
cheering still, the book comes out triumphant from the test.
The very considerable labours of the researcher, his familiarity with
what is now known of the history and topography of Carthage and his
minute and fruitful study of his author's other works, particularly the
voluminous Correspondence, result in a reasoned vindication of Flaubert
as historian and artist. Flaubert's ingenious hypotheses are proved to
remain substantially correct, and his many critics, Sainte-Beuve among
them, are refuted with chapter and verse. His shortcomings reduce
themselves on close inspection to ignorance of materials inaccessible in
1862, to misunderstanding, or rather neglect, of the Carthaginian Con-
stitution and to indulgence of his inveterate habit of making things
seem worse than they are, or could ever have been. ,But it is clearly
shown that many a gruesome detail in the sombre story of Carthage —
the habits of the ' mangeurs de choses immondes,' for example, or the
precise manner in which dogs devour carrion men — was not invented
by Flaubert to ' annoy the bourgeois/ but observed in the course of his
travels in the Levant and set in his note-book among other 'things
seen,' which legitimately enough he considered typical of the unchanging
East and therefore utilized afterwards in Salammbo. The material in
which the artist worked was that supplied by the historian and the
traveller. Nothing illustrates better the remarkable unity of Flaubert's
literary life than the success with which the author of this elaborate
study of sources traces the germs of Salammbd in the earlier, even in
the juvenile, work of Flaubert and shows how ideas, half-developed in
Salammbo, came to fruition later on. Benedetto's book, embodying
the results obtained by many workers and those of his own research, set
forth in an agreeable and flowing style, definitively ' places ' one master-
piece of French literature in its period.
The general character of the literary relationship between Flaubert
and Maupassant, his protege, is already well known, but Miss Riddell's
detailed and methodical Dissertation, fortified by an excellent biblio-
graphy, adds precision to our knowledge. Unfortunately her zeal some-
times outruns her evidence. Thus we are told (p. 39 and again on p. 85)
that both writers often speak of the ' heavy heat ' of summer. ' Une
lourde chaleur ' is ' sultry heat,' and surely two people can use the
common phrase without suspicion of poaching on each other's preserves.
But she adduces many striking similarities both in content and in form,
and fully demonstrates why Maupassant came to absorb so thoroughly
the essentials of Flaubert's thought and expression that he often repro-
duced them unconsciously. In most cases, however, the kind of influence
which she traces in the pupil is suggestive rather than imitative, a whole
train of likenesses in Maupassant being started sometimes by a single
suggestion in Flaubert.
R. L. G. RITCHIE.
BIRMINGHAM.
96 Reviews
Parts of the Body in the Later Germanic Dialects (Linguistic Studies in
Germanic, V). By WILLIAM DENNY BASKETT. Chicago : Uriiv. of
Chicago Press ; Cambridge : Univ. Press. 1920. 4 to. xii + 139 pp.
Criticism of this work is rendered rather difficult by the severe
restrictions which its author has imposed upon himself in order not
to trespass upon the ground covered by T. W. Arnoldson's Parts of the
Body in Older Germanic and Scandinavian (no. II of the same series).
The object of the investigation is, in the words of the preface, 'to show how
these words came to have their present meaning, rather than to show their
original meaning/ A catalogue more or less raisonne is supplied of the
multitudinous terms employed by Modern Germanic (or rather West
Germanic) dialects, the grouping being on a semantic basis. It is obvious
that such a classification must have necessitated genetic investigations
as well, and in certain cases, it is hard to withhold a regret that the author
did not set the implied historical data clearly before us. It is regrettable
too that the author felt bound to keep his material practically water-
tight from the North Germanic correspondences (apart from a few
references to Arnoldson) — in fact, a combination of the work of Arnoldson
and of the present author under one single investigation might have
yielded more fruitful results, for in studies of comparative lexicology it is
surely desirable to make the field of reference as wide as possible.
If the above limitations are accepted, criticism will naturally fasten
upon details of method and observation lying within the set frame. The
value of the work would, for instance, be much enhanced by the provision
of alphabetical word .lists grouped by dialect. Apart from this omission,
however, the presentment of the matter is clear and business-like, and
cross reference is easy. Minor inconsistencies in the classification are the
omission of separate sections 11 Snout and 12 Beak, referred to in the
index on p. 137, from the body of the work where section 10 is followed by
13. Moreover, search for Eardrum, ear lobe, eartubes referred in the
index to 25 F, H and G respectively will be in vain. Only three of the
fingers have sections devoted to them, the ' ring finger ' being absent.
In the Bibliography on p. vii it would have been well to insert [West
Frisian] in the mention of Dijkstra's dictionary, and most decidedly so
to quote the full title of Schmidt Petersen's dictionary, which does not
deal with North Frisian as a whole, but only with the dialects of Fohr
and Am rum.
The laborious task the author undertook in collecting words from such
heterogeneous sources as those specified in the bibliography, has, on. the
whole, been well accomplished. It would be absurd to expect exhaustion
of these sources to the last drop. Therefore, no special credit is claimed
for the following attempt to draw yet more material from one dialect
group, the North Frisian, to supplement the present collection. Some
of the Fohr expressions seem to have escaped the author, and two
important dictionaries, that of Siebs on the Heligoland dialect and of
Boy P. Moller of Sylt words, were probably inaccessible to him. The
following addenda are given in accordance with the author's sections.
Reviews 97
Sec. 1 (Body) add Helg. kreng Rumpf (Fohr, Seehundkorper und
Eingeweide ; Sylt, abgenutztes Tier) ; Fohr lell die zum Rumpf geho-
renden Glieder, Leib. Sec. 2 J 2 (Head) Helg. pet, pot. Sec. 4 (Forehead)
Fohr toop Stirn, Scheitel. 5 A 19 (Hair) Sylt duntji Haarbeutel ; 5 D 7
Sylt tjost Haarbtischel ; after 5 R, Sylt tap Haarflechte. Sec. 6 (Face)
Sylt flees Fratze. 7 C 1 (Mouth) Helg. flots ; 7 J '_4> Helg. snut, snut. 80 3
(Lip) Sylfc flap, fleep herabhangende Unterlippe (cf. Fohr flabi die
Unterlippe hangen lassen). 9L12 (Nose, etc.) Sylt snaater; add to 9
Sylt truun Schwpinsriissel (cf. Dan. tryn and the French loan-word
trogne face). 10 B 1 (Nostril) Sylt noosnoster. 14 (Double Chin, etc.)
Sylt sjali (M6ller refers to M.H.G. kelch, O.H.G. leelh Kropf). 16 C 1
Sylt gil, giljing and add to 16 Helg. klk Kiemen. 17 (Jaw) Sylt kjabi.
18 (Gums) Helg. resen. 19 (Tooth) Sylt kuusi Backeozahn (cf. Fohr
kees, kuus, Helg. kes). 21 (Palate) Helg. tsjap Gaumen des Fisches,
Ober- und Unterkiefer zusammen, ben Gallerie; der menschliche
Gaumen. 24 C 1 (Uvula) Helg, huk en hgk. 27 (Pupil) Sylt oogstiin and
to 27 C 2 add H. G. Augenstern. 31 (Temple) Fohr tenning, tiartenning,
Sylt tening. 36 (Mane) Sylt muaning. 37 (Skull) Fohr skrook Sylt haurs-
krook (haur Haupt). 38 (Fontanelle) Sylt di munek (from association
with monk's tonsure ?). 43 (Windpipe) Fohr strod, Sylt stroot (cf. 42
A 7). 44 (Gullet) Fohr wlas. 45 A 4 (Shoulder) Fohr 'skooft, Sylt skoft
(cf. English Dialect Dictionary s.v. shift). 55 (Forefinger) Fohr porri-
fdngdr, Amrum skotfdngdr. 56 Helg. di meddld fiygdr. The Fohr and
Sylt forms for ' ring finger ' are gulfdngdr and gulfinger. 60 A 6 (Claw)
Sylt niip Schere des Hummers. 63 (Fin) Helg. flik ; Sylt limits fin to
big seafish. fitting denotes fin of small fish. 67 (Limb) Fohr ness collect.
70 (Calf) Fohr grdwst bian. 70 B 3 connection with Fohr lurrdg
Oberschenkel ? or further back with Gaelic loirc deformed foot quoted
by Falk and Torp from Liden in their Wortschatz der germanischen
Spracheinheit (Gottingen, 1909), p. 571. 73 (Bend) Fohr bdcht i.e.
bight. 74B11 (Foot) Fohr knuar Schweinsfiisse. 76 (Instep) Sylt
futwrest to distinguish from hunwrest, 81 (Breast, etc.) Fohr spenn
(cf. O.H.G. spunni, etc.), tetj, dart; there is also an English (West
country) pue, udder of a cow or sheep, connected by the. English
Dialect Dictionary with Welsh piw. 87 (Navel) Fohr nawdr. 90 Helg.,
Low German irigors', 90 A 8 Fohr ersbdl, Sylt iarsbeli', 90 A 55 Fohr
totj Btirzel einer Ente. 94 (Loin) Sylt lunk. 101 (Crop) Sylt kras.
102 (Gallbladder) Fohr goal — a case of synecdoche. 104 (Stomach) Fohr
womm Panse, Rindermagen; 104 F 1 add reference to Fohr rubbling
Fischrogen, Kaviar. 105 (Omasum) Fohr Idpelspos. 108*(Pleura). No
mention of H.G. Rippenfell. 113 (Intestines) Fohr luasdng Eingeweide
und kleine Teile eines Schlachttieres ; 1 1 3B2 Sylt grum ; 113 El cf. Fohr
ister Flomen, Schweinefett < Germ. *enfotran innermost, and Engl.
inards. 115 E 1 (Viscera) cf. N.H.G. Pfluck, Sylt plokister, ploktualig.
119 C 3 cf. Sylt lech Gebarmutter (to Holler's citation of M.H.G. kintlege
I would add West Fris. ttch Eierstocke). 12 H 1 Westfalian lewan.
123 D 1 Helg. pip; D 14 Engl. cock; F 3 Sylt pintj. 126 A 13 Fohr
Mot, klotQr stian, Helg. kleten, kllten klotdn, Sylt kloot, klootstiin. 129 D 2
M.L.R.XVI. 7
98 Reviews
(Afterbirth) Fohr, Sylt fillighair. 132 (Skin) Fohr ell Schwielenhaut,
Sylt Hit, also add Sylt flit Fliigelfell, Augenfell. 132 B 2 Author is
mistaken in connecting Cologne huck Haut with N.H.G. hucke, for
huck = M.H.G. hilt and exhibits the Ripuarian development of final
dental to final velar stop cf. zick < zit, huck < hint, etc. 134 A 2 (Scale)
Fohr skolldp-, D 1 ~H.elg.Jlum. 150 (Cartilage) Sylt gnosp.
W. E. COLLINSON.
LIVERPOOL.
MINOR NOTICES.
Professor Waterhouse is to be congratulated on the first volume of
The Year Book of Modern Languages (Cambridge : Univ. Press, 1920 ;
15s.). He has achieved a difficult task in face of the general dislocation
of our academic life, and especially that part of it which is concerned
with modern European literatures. The contributions dealing with the
different literatures vary considerably in character and scope, some
attempting to cover the whole field, others restricting themselves to
English work or to mere lists of books; but these inequalities will
doubtless disappear in the Year Book for 1921, where the period
surveyed will be necessarily better defined. The Editor's own contribu-
tion on the Report of the Government Committee might, in view of the
very great importance of that Report, with advantage have been longer.
One associates a Year Book with statistical information. It would, for
instance, have been valuable had Prof. Waterhouse included a survey
of the present standing of Modern Language study in schools arid
universities, notably of the progress that has been made in improving
the position of languages like Italian, Spanish and Russian. Statistics
showing the representation of Modern Languages at the universities of
the British Isles, a record of new chairs and lectureships created, and —
following the lead of our contemporary History — a list of the theses
accepted at the universities for higher graduation would all have
provided welcome variety to the linguistic and literary summaries
which make up most of the present volume. But arj excellent beginning
has been made with this volume, and we look forward to its successors.
J. G. R.
We are glad to welcome the appearance of a second edition of the
EtymologischesWb'rterbuch der gotischen Sprache (Erste Lieferung: A — D.
Halle : M. Niemeyer, 1920; 96 pp.; 10 M.) by Sigmund Feist, a scholar
who has come into special prominence in recent years as the champion
of some startling theories concerning the Germanic sound-shifts. The
dictionary has grown almost beyond recognition, the letters A — D alone
occupying the space formerly allotted to aba — gafrifron. This first
number shows the work to be up to date, comprehensive and critical. By
Minor Notices 99
using different types the author is able to embody many references to the
labours of his predecessors. New features of interest are the provision
of Greek equivalents after the Gothic lemmata, the utilisation of
Tocharian cognates, and the incorporation of a wealth of Celtic illustra-
tive material, revised by no less an authority than Prof. Thurneysen.
The dictionary is advertised to appear in 4 or 5 parts, and detailed
criticism is best deferred until publication is complete. W. E. C.
In Spanish Prose and Poetry, Old and New (Oxford : Univ. Press,
1920 ; 10s. 6d.) Miss Ida Farnell sets out to convey to English readers
in a book of a hundred and eighty pages something of the beauty and
power of Spanish literature by giving them a number of translated
extracts together with ' critical and biographical sketches.' The task is
a formidable one and it is unfortunate that Miss Farnell has not made
better use of the space at her disposal. The entire omission of Cervantes,
Calder6n, Santa Teresa and Lazarillo de Tormes is no doubt due to the
existence of certain English translations. Yet sixteen pages are devoted
to translations from the Celestina and seventeen to what is mainly a
summary of Pepita Jimenez ; and both these works are easily acces-
sible in English. On the other hand, the introductory sketches and
many of the renderings from both prose and verse are full of insight
and sympathy. In particular there are unusually happy versions of
certain lyrics, notably the Noche serena and Morada del cielo of Fray
Luis de Leon and the selections from Gaspar Nufiez del Arce. The
almost untranslateable En una noche escura of San Juan de la Cruz is
rendered with a skill which gives us much of the original music in
spite of the necessary substitution in the English version of single for
double end-rimes. The book as a whole is suggestive and inspiring
both to the student of Spanish and the general reader. Those to whom
Antonio Machado's beautiful lines to Giner de los Rios are new may
like to know that a small but representative selection from Sr. Machado's
poems is now available in the Coleccion Universal of the Casa Calpe.
E. A. P.
7—2
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
September — November, 1920.
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CHAPLIN, A., The Romance of Language. London, Sidgwick arid Jackson. 7*. 6d.
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DE MADARIAGA, S., Shelley and Calderon, and other Essays. London, Constable.
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LEUMANN, E., Neue Metrik. i. Berlin, Ver. wissensphaftl. Verl. 6 M.
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LOT, E., Nouvelles etudes sur le cycle arthurien, in, iv (Romania, 181, Jan.
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ANGOT, E. Madame Deshoulieres et 1'intrigue de Rocroy (Rev. d'hist. lift.,
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WOLFF, R., Studium zu Luthers Weltanschauung (Histor. Bibl., xliii). Munich,
R. Oldenbourg. 10 M.
112 New Publications
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COLLIN, C., Leo Tolstoi. Ruslands Digter-Profet. 3. omarb. Utg. Kristiania,
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DOSTOJEWSKI, F. M., Samtliche Werke in deutscher Ubersetzung. n. Abt., xi.
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GONTSCHAROW, F., Gesammelte Werke. in 4 Banden. Berlin, B. (Jassirer. 150 M.
GORKY, M., Reminiscences of L. N. Tolstoi. Transl. by S. S. Koteliansky and
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HERZEN, A. L, Sarntliche Werke in russischer Sprache. i. Berlin, H. Sachs.
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KRILOFF, I. A., Fables. Transl. into English in the original metres. By
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LAVRIN, J., Dostoevsky and his Creation. London, W. Collins. 7s. 6d.
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SEGAL, L., The Romantic Movement in Russia. Portsmouth, Russian Quarterly.
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[NOTE. The Italian, French and Old and Middle English sections have been
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ro
VOLUME XVI APBIL, 1921 NUMBER 2
GRENDEL'S MOTIVE IN ATTACKING HEOEOT1.
LITTLE attention has been paid to the motive of Grendel's attack
upon Heorot in Beowulf 89 f. In the only detailed account of his raids
(Beow. 739-45) Grendel appears as a man-eating monster who seeks
food, 'a full meal' (wyst-fylle 734), and who devours the body ravenously
(743), as if hunger were his only thought. Nothing in the earlier account
of his attack is at variance with this savage satisfaction of hunger,
although it is there merely said that the first time he ' seized in their
sleep thirty thanes' (122-3), and with the booty went to his home. In
the third account of the event (1580-84), we are more exactly told that
Grendel ate on the spot fifteen of the thirty victims, carrying the other
fifteen away. During his attack of the following night, as we are
informed in more general terms, Grendel 'accomplished more of
murderous evil ' (1^5-6). When the monster's mother comes to avenge
her son (1278), she is discovered too quickly to make clear what she
might have done. She has time only to seize ' one of the nobles ' (1294)
and the bloody hand of Grendel, when she hastens away to save her
life. Escaping to the entrance of her watery cave, however, she too
takes time to devour ^Eschere's body, but for some reason — a fortunate
circumstance for her pursuers and perhaps intended as such by the poet
—she leaves his bloody head upon the cliff (1420-21).
In curious contrast with all this fondness for a cannibalistic feast —
Grendel has the form of a man (1352) — we are told of the monster's
making the attack because he ' bore hardly that he heard each day loud
mirth in the hall ' (88-9). This mirth is then described as ' sound of
the harp ' and * song of the scop (minstrel),' while as an example of the
latter there is repeated to us a hymn in praise of the Creator. Again,
in lines 99-100, we are informed that when the attack \^is made ' men
were living in happiness blessedly.'
This inconsistency between motive and accomplishment has not
been commented upon before. Panzer, it is true, attempts to explain
1 This paper was written and sent to the Modern Language Review before Schiicking's
treatment of Beowulf in Paul and Braune's Beitrage XLVII, Part 3, had reached America.
The later date proposed by Schiicking for the poem, if accepted, would perhaps modify
the writer's attempt to explain Beowulf 175-8, but the special point of this paper seems
not to have been touched.
M. L. R. XVI. 8
114 GrendeVs Motive in attacking Heorot
Grendel's dislike of the Danish revelry on the basis of Teutonic folklore
regarding elves and demons (Studien zur germ. Sagengeschichte, p. 264) :
Grendels Eingreifen ward dadurch veranlasst, dass er die frohliche Lust in
Heorot nicht ertragen konnte. Das 1st so allgemeine Damonenart, denn nicht
bloss Glockenklang scheucht die Elben, sondern all gerauschvolle Hantierung der
Menschen, die Pochwerke im Gebirge, das Roden des Waldes und Bebauen des
Ackers (Grimm, Mythol. 4. 380, W. Grimm, Kl. Sch. 1. 467) und in einer schles-
wigischen Sage (bei Miillenhoff S. 289, Nr. 396) kornmt der Elb nicht zu der
Hochzeit, zu der er sich selber geladen, weil er 'die Trommelmusik nicht vertragen '
kann. In unserem Epos stort Grendel die festliche Lust in Heorot augenscheinlich
darum, weil sie auf seinem Grund, in seinem Reiche statthat. Wir fanden ent-
sprechend im Marchen gerade in der Hausformel zweimal das Eingreifen des
Erdmanns ebenso begriindet: er zerstort die Prunkbauten, weil sie auf oder uber
seinem Reiche errichtet sind (oben S. 97, 98).
Such explanation, at first sight apparently so adequate, is in line
with most Beowulf interpretation of the past. For years the poem has
been considered scarcely more than a storehouse of heathen antiquities.
Every time the word wyrd was found the antiquarian finger has come
down with a ' There is genuine heathendom/ notwithstanding that
references to luck or fortune are still common enough, without in the
least disturbing general belief in an over-ruling Providence. Allusions
to what might be thought Christian doctrine, for example lines 183-8,
were explained away or regarded as interpolations. Special emphasis
was laid upon the allusion to devil worship in lines 175-8, while thirty-
two uses of the word god in passages in which it might be explained as
an allusion to the God of Christianity were slightly regarded1.
But the belief in Beowulf as mainly a heathen poem has been largely
modified in recent times. The older view, persisting still in Blackburn's
'Christian Coloring in Beowulf (Mod. Phil, xn, 205), was more than
answered by the far-reaching paper of Klaeber, 'Die christlichen
Elemente im Beowulf (Anglia xxxv-vi)2. A succinct statement of
the newer view, that the poem was written by a Christian, appears in
Gerould's Saints Legends, p. 60. Noting more clearly than had been
done before how the chronology of Old English literature would justify
a Christian origin for the poem, he adds :
The Christian references in Beowulf, which have baffled all attempts at disen-
tanglement as a whole, serve to confirm this view. They are there because the
author, though he told a story of pagan times, was himself a Christian.
In this connexion let me insert a note on the devil worship in
1 Twenty-six of these references are in the part of the poem dealing with Hrothgar and
his people, or with Beowulf in relation to those people.
2 Compare Klaeber, ' Zum Beowulf,' Anglia xxvin, 441 f. My own opposition to
Blackburn's view was noted in 'Legends of Cain,' Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass. xxi, 916, and
footnote.
OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON 115
Beow. 175-8. In his Life of St Patrick (pp. 75-7), J. B. Bury thus
accounts for the ease with which the Christian religion was accepted in
Ireland :
Christianity, while it demanded that its converts should abandon heathen
observances and heathen cults, did not require them to surrender their belief in
the existence of the beings whom they were forbidden to worship. They were only
required to regard these beings in a new light. For the Christians themselves, even
the highest authorities in the Church, were as superstitious as the heathen The
fact, then, that the Christian Church, by its recognition of demons as an actual
power with which it had to cope, stood in this respect on the same intellectual
plane as the heathen, was an advantage in the task of diffusing the religion. The
belief in demons as a foe with which the Church had to deal was expressed officially
in the institution of a clerical order called exorcists, whose duty it was, by means
of formulae, to exorcise devils at baptism.
Besides, not only did Christian missionaries in all parts of the world
recognize the existence of heathen divinities as spirits of evil, but
Augustine the missionary to the English was instructed by Pope
Gregory the Great not necessarily to destroy heathen temples. The
passage follows :
Cum vero vos Deus omnipotens ad reverendissirnum virum fratrem nostrum
Augustinum episcopum perduxerit, dicite ei quid diu mecum de causa Anglorum
cogitans tractavi, videlicet quia fana idolorum destrui in eadem gente minime
debeant, sed ipsa quae in eis sunt idola destruantur Quia si fana eadem bene
constructa sunt, necesse est ut a cultu daemonum in obsequium veri Dei debeant
commutari, ut dum gens ipsa eadem fana non videt destrui, de corde errorem
deponat, et, Deum verum cognoscens et adorans, ad loca quae consuevit familiarius
concurrat 1.
That this advice of Pope Gregory was known and followed in
England is clear from the prominence Bede gives to it in his Ecclesi-
astical History, where it is quoted in Book i, chapter xxx. That
heathen temples were preserved in England seems certain from the
tradition, according to Plummer, that ^Ethelbert's heathen temple
outside Canterbury was ' converted by Augustine into the Church of
St Pancras/ Plummer also gives many references to both idols and
heathen temples in England2.
Here, then, is important light on a passage which has often been
misinterpreted. With heathen temples still remaining in early England,
and doubtless not all converted to Christian uses, occasional lapses into
heathen practices in times of special trouble may have occurred before
the eyes of the Beowulf poet. He may therefore have introduced the
1 Sancti Gregori Magni Epistolarum Lib. xi, Epistola Ixxvi Ad Mellitum Abbatem,
Dat mandata Augustiho, quern adibat, exhibenda, ad faciliorem Anglorum conversionem.
Migne, Pair. Lat. 77, col. 1176.
2 Hummer's Bede 11, 58, and the following note. Perhaps it is significant that Bede's
chapter xxx of Book i is omitted in the Old English version. In the England of King
Alfred's time it may have seemed too much at variance with Christian practice.
116 GrendeTs Motive in attacking Heorot
incident into the ancient tale, because his imagination was guided
by realities of his own age. The incident is therefore not necessarily at
variance with the generally Christian character of Hrothgar and the
Danes. Indeed it may itself be regarded as another indication of the
Christian character of the poet. Note especially that the god of the
heathen fane is specifically called gast-bona ' destroyer of souls/ that is
devil, in accordance with accepted Christian belief.
To return to the attack of Grendel, only Klaeber in his article, ' Die
christlichen Elemente' (Anglia xxxv, 257), has given the suggestion of
Christian colouring to the passage. Of it he says :
Die veranlassung seines feindlichen verhaltens ist — im einklang mit der mar-
chendarstellung, vgl. Panzer, 264 — das ihm verhasste frohliche treiben in Heorot,
86 ff. ; das motiv des neides ist nur zwischen den zeilen zu lesen.
In a footnote he refers to Abbetmeyer's monograph, Old English
Poetical Motives Derived from the Doctrine of Sin, p. 21 f., and adds the
following references: Vesp. Hym. 12, hostis invidi dolo (=fiondes Ses
efestgan facne) ; Vita Quiriaci (Acta Sanctorum), omnium 'bonorum
semper invidus diabolus, to explain EL 899 ff. ; Gen. B. 421 ff., 73:3 ff.,
750-60.
Excellent as this comment is, it seems to me not strong enough for
adequate explanation of the motive of Grendel. That we should be told
this man-eating monster was inspired to assail the Danes by envy of their
happiness, rather than by hunger for human flesh, seems ridiculously
insufficient. But the poet, as I suggest, intends to make all clear by
immediately following the passage with his characterization of Grendel
as a 'hellish fiend' (feond on helle, 101), and reciting at length his
origin in the devilish progeny of Cain (lines 104-14), an origin which
he again asserts in a later passage (1258-68). In other words, this is
the reason for introducing a passage which has always been a stumbling
block to those who saw only a heathen story in the poem, and which
occasioned what now seems the extraordinary interpolation theory. As
of devilish origin, Grendel merely exhibits a devilish characteristic in
being carried away by envy of the happy Hrothgar and his court, a
community accepting God as Creator and benefactor — in other words,
essentially Christian.
It would seem scarcely necessary to argue at length for envy as a
characteristic of the devil according to medieval conception. Envy of
the Creator was joined with pride in his own powers to cause the fall
of Lucifer. Indeed, St Augustine gave envy as the prime motive : ' Qui
invidet, non amat. Peccatum diaboli est in illo ; quia et diabolus in-
OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON 117
vidiendo dejecit1.' Envy stands next to pride in the list of the seven
* deadly sins,' as in St Augustine's Tractates de septem vitiis et septem
donis Spiritus Sancti*, in Gregory the Great's Moralium Libri3, and
usually perhaps in medieval books. Compare for English works, Cursor
Mundi 1. 27524 f. ; Dan Michael's Ayenbite of Inwit ; Jacob's Well ; Lay
Folks' Catechism ; Chaucer's Parson's Tale ; Gower's Gonfessio Amantis ;
William of Shoreham's Poems No. 4.
Envy of man's happiness was also fully recognized in medieval times
as a devilish characteristic. Jewish legend, on which so much of
Christian demonology was based, placed the envy of Adam and its
accompanying jealousy before the fall of Lucifer:
The extraordinary qualities with which Adam was blessed, physical and spiritual
as well, aroused the envy of the angels. They attempted to consume him with fire,
and he would have perished, had not the protecting hand of God rested upon him,
and established peace between him and the heavenly host. In particular Satan was
jealous of the first man, and his evil thoughts finally led to his fall4.
For the same envy of man by the devil I need cite, among Christian
writers, only two of the Church Fathers, one Greek and one Roman.
St Chrysostom, in his forty-eighth Homily on John's Gospel (chap. 7, 1),
has this pertinent passage : O vSev <j>06v€i, xelpov teal /Saa-fcavtas ' ovrax;
0 Sta/SoXos rov /coo-fJLov el<rr)\6ev. 'Ettreio'r) yap elSev 6 SidfioXo? rov
avOpwirov rifJLtofJuevov, OVK eveyvoDV rrjv evrjfjLepiav, irdvra eirparrev wcrre
avrov dv€\etv5. For the Roman Fathers St Augustine is equally clear
in his presentation of the same idea ; Enarratio in Psalmum 139, 6
(140, 5) :
Absconderunt superbi musdpulum mihi. Totum corpus diaboli explicavit breviter,
cum ait, superbi. .. .Inde veniunt omnes seductiones et supplantationes. Hoc prior
ipse diabolus voluit, qui cadens stanti homini invidit : et quia ipse amisit regnum
coelorum, hominem illuc pervenire noluit (Gen. iii), et non vult ; et id agit nunc, ut
homo illuc non perveniat, unde ipse dejectus est. Quia ergo superbus est ipse, et
ideo invidus quia superbus, ornne corpus ipsius talium corpus est6.
The same idea is found in Old English writers, although the examples
1 now have are later than the composition of Beowulf. The first is from
JElfric's Sermo de initio creaturae :
pa ongeat se deofol J>set Adam and Eva wseron to $y gesceapene }>set hi sceolon
mid eadmodnysse and mid gehyrsumnysse geearriian $a wununge on heofonan rice
1 In Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos, Tract, v, cap. iii (Migne, Pair. Lat. 35, col. 2017).
Cf. also St Isidore, Sententiarum Lib. in, cap. xxv (Migne, 83, 700): 'Invidus membrum
est diaboli, cujus invidia mors introivit in orbem terrarum, sicut et superbus membrum est
diaboli.'
2 Migne, Patr. Lat. 40, col. 1089.
3 Liber xxxi, cap. xlv, Migne Patr. Lat. 76, col. 620.
4 Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews i, 62.
5 Migne, Patr. Graec. 59, col. 269.
d Migne, Patr. Lat. 37, col. 1807.
118 Grendel's Motive in attacking Heorot
"Se he of afeoll for his upahefednysse, j?a nam he micelne gramum and andan to ]>arn
mannum, and smeade hu he hi fordon mihte1.
The second occurs in Wulfstan's Homilies :
Ac sona swa deofol ongeat J>£et mann to Sam gesceapen wses, ]?8et he scolde and
his cynn gefyllan on heofonum >aet se deofol forworhte fturh his ofermodignesse, )>a
waes him J?set on myclan andan, ongann >a beswican and gelseran, }>set se man
abrsec godes bebod2.
That Grendel's envy of the Danes did not show itself in tempting
them to their spiritual fall, as commonly with the devils, was due to his
belonging to the race of Cain's descendants, corporeal monsters with
physical characteristics. According to medieval conception these cor-
poreal demons, as I have shown in the article- mentioned above, were
blood-thirsty in the most literal sense. The passage is in the Clementine
Homilies :
But they [those who sprang from the union of the sons of God and the daughters
of men], on account of their bastard natures not being pleased with purity of food
(the manna God has provided), longed after the taste of blood. Wherefore they first
tasted flesh3.
So far I have not considered the Hymn of Creation (Beow. 90-98)
sung by the Danish minstrel as a reason for Grendel's attack. It is not
a reason, I take it, because it praises the Creator, toward whom envy
would have been natural on the part of any demon. The song is
primarily an example of the peaceful pleasures of the Danish people,
and probably not intended as an indication of how they 'lived blessedly'
(99-100) in any Christian sense. On the other hand, the words 'lived
blessedly ' might have such meaning, especially as the hymn is in quite
extraordinary contrast with the other songs of the scop introduced into
the poem. The latter, as the Praise of Beowulf (872 f.) and the Song of
Finn (1086 f), are strictly in keeping with the natural characteristics
of a warlike race. The only approach to the ideas of the Hymn of
Creation are the words of the devout Hrothgar, as in lines 928 f. and
1700 f.
It may be contended that Grendel's dislike of the Danish revelry
belonged to the original story. That is not impossible, and perhaps
even probable. Even in that case, however, we must consider how
a Christian poet of medieval England would have looked at such a
matter, and how far he would have retained it if he had regarded it as
essentially heathen. It is clearly not heathen to have the revelry of the
Danes include a Hymn of Creation similar to that of the Christian
1 Homilies of Mlfric, ^Elfric Soc. i, 16. Cf. also ^Elfric's Hexameron, ch. xvii.
2 Wulfstan's Homilies, ed. by Napier, p. 9.
3 Clementine Homilies 8, ch. 14-18, as translated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers 17, 142 f.
OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON 119
Caedmon, whose follower the Beowulf poet must have been. Besides,
the fact that the poet at once accounts for Grendel in exactly the
manner in which the medieval Christian was wont to explain such
monsters, leaves implications which cannot be accounted for on any
heathen basis. The explanation of Grendel's motive as envy of man's
happiness seems to account for the introduction of the Cain descent as
it has not been accounted for before. With this explanation, that
descent seems less than ever dragged in unnecessarily.
It was then, as our poet conceives, because Grendel was of devilish
origin that he was prompted, by envy of the Danes in their happiness
and innocent pleasures, to make his earliest attack, and to become their
persistent enemy until the hero Beowulf comes to the rescue. Thus, at
the foundation of this part of the Beowulf story, is a conception which
can be fully accounted for only on a Christian basis. Let us add it to
the Christian elements, as one of the significant evidences that only a
Christian poet could have written the old English epic.
OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON.
CLEVELAND, U.S.A.
JOHN (HENRY) SCOGAN.
THE unnoticed fact that the 1613 edition of Scoggins lestes in the
Bodleian Library adds a sequel to Scogan's well-known adventures is
here to be made the excuse for reopening a much argued matter. Who
and what was Scogan ?
Around the name of Scogan, Skogan, Scogin, or Scoggin1 there is a
large literary tradition and an intriguing mystery. The tradition arises
from the appearance of the name and character of Scogan in the work
of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and many lesser writers, as well as
from the fact that in Elizabethan times the name was a by-word ; the
mystery from the non-appearance of any strictly satisfactory evidence
as to one identity fitting the tradition. Of recent years many have
agreed with Ritson2 and split the tradition in two, one part for a Henry
Scogan of Chaucer's time, poet of respectable reputation, and one for
a John Scogan, supposedly flourishing some hundred years later as a
university-educated jokester and court fool. Under this interpretation
the Scogan to whom Chaucer's Envoy was written can have played none
of the ' sporting parts ' in that favourite Elizabethan chap-book Scoggins
lestes. Skeat3 appears rather glad to accept this view. Obviously he
finds it distasteful to think of Chaucer's friend as a fool, particularly
such a boisterously vulgar one as the Scogan whom the Elizabethans
loved.
But in spite of some very learned arguing back and forth, anyone
who goes carefully over what has been written about Scogan may still
find himself unconvinced of anything except that there is confusion
worse confounded. In re-examining the old much vexed evidence and
adding some small share of new, I hope to prove at least that the
existence of two Scogans is not at all established ; going even farther,
I hope to show that according to our present meagre knowledge argu-
ments for one Scogan living in Chaucer's time are on the whole better
than the arguments for two famous men of that name.
1 Except when quotation dictates otherwise I shall spell the name Scogan, though for
the role of jester Scogin or Scoggin appears more frequently.
2 Bibliographia Poetica, 1802, pp. 97 ff.
3 Chaucer, i, pp. 83-4.
WILLARD EDWARD FARNHAM 121
Whoever Scogan was or whichever he was, he certainly did not write
the Jests centring about his personality. They may be regarded as
giving an apocryphal life of their hero, but they are a collection of
stories whose only passport to admission in the book may frequently
have been the sure-fire Elizabethan laughs that lay in them, and as
evidence are distinctly to be handled with care.
A complete and correctly characterized list of the many editions
through which the Jests ran has never been given. The following is
avowedly incomplete and in places only suggestive, but it adds to what
has before been found and corrects some errors :
I. Edition or editions earlier than 1565-6 ?
Says Hazlitt (Shakespeare Jest-Books, n, p. 38) : 'It is to be remarked
that Colwell, to whom the " Geystes of Skoggon " were, as we have seen,
licensed in 1565-6, was Wyer's successor in the printing and book-
selling business at the sign of St. John Evangelist, near Charing Cross ;
and there is room to suspect that the edition issued by Colwell was
merely a reprint of an impression by Wyer, of which all trace is now
lost.'
II. Edition of 1565-6 ?
Thomas Colwell paid fourpence to the Stationers' Company for a
license to print The Geystes of Skoggon (Arber's Transcript, I, p. 134).
1 Probably printed. No copy of this edition now known.
III. Scoggins lestes. Wherein is declared his pleasant pastimes in
France ; and of his meriments among the Fryers : full of delight and
honest mirthe. London, Printed by Ralph Blower dwelling on Lambert
hill neare old Fish street. 1613. 12°, black letter.
On page 1 : Certaine merrie lestes of Scoggin, translated out of
French.
Malone 388, Bodleian, apparently only copy now known.
Jests different in scope and plan from those of any other edition.
Hazlitt cannot have examined them. He says, however (Shakespeare
Jest-Books, n, p. 39): 'An edition, 1613, 12mo, was in the Harleian
Collection.' He shows no evidence of knowing its real character.
IV. The First and Best Part of Scoggins Jests. Full of Witty Mirth
and Pleasant Shifts, done by him in France and other places : being a
Preservative against Melancholy. Gathered by Andrew Boord, Doctor of
Physicke. London. Printed for Francis Williams. 1626. 12°, black letter.
Copy in British Museum. Edited and reprinted by Hazlitt, Shake-
speare Jest-Books, II, pp. 46 ff.
122 John (Henry] Scogan
V. The first and second part of Scoggins jests, full of witty mirth
and pleasant shifts, done by him in France and other places, being a
preservative against melancholy. Gathered by Andrew Boord Doctor of
physicke. London, printed for /. Stafford and W. Gilbertson, 1655.
Existence of this edition hitherto unnoticed. I know of no copy.
The title is copied in Donee's handwriting among notes at the front of
Douce S. 212, Bodleian.
VI. Scoggins Jests : Full of witty Mirth, and pleasant Shifts ; done
by him in France and other places. Being a Preservative against
Melancholy. Gathered by Andrew Board, Doctor of Physick. This may
be Reprinted, R. P. London ; Printed for W. Thackeray at the Angel in
Duck lane, near West-Smithfield, and J. Deacon at the Angel in Gilt-
spur-street. (About 1680.)
Douce S. 212, Bodleian, is a copy of this edition once owned by
Douce. On leaves inserted at the front are notes in his handwriting,
among them being, ' This was the copy from which Mr Caulfield reprinted
his edition and which he returned to me in its present dirty condition.'
VII. Reprint of Thackeray and Deacon's edition for Caulfield,
1796. 8vo.
Esdaile includes the Bodleian copy of the 1613 edition with a query
as to whether it is not 'another edition' of the jests registered and
probably printed in 1565-6, and of the jests printed in 16261. It is not
• another edition.' It is better described as a sequel to The First and
Best Part. Hazlitt, who has so well edited the 1626 edition, works
under the same misapprehension, leaving one with the decided im-
pression that the 1613 edition is similar to the 1626, although incom-
plete and not so well worth reprinting2. Others have followed in this
belief with the result that the 1613 edition has never been carefully
examined, so far as is apparent8.
As a matter of fact, this edition of 1613 extends Scogan's apocryphal
life in an interesting fashion and is so far from being a duplication of
the well-known jests that out of the sixty-seven tales which make the
1 A List of English Tales and Prose Romances Printed before 1740, London, 1912,
p. 123.
2 Shakespeare Jest-Books, n, p. 39. 'All the earlier editions of Scoggin's Jests, how-
ever, seem to have perished; and although an edition, 1613, 12mo, was in the Harleian
Collection, the only edition now known, having any pretension to completeness, is that of
1626 described above. '
3 See Dictionary of National Biography, 1897, LI, p. 2. ' The work was repeatedly
reissued ; an edition dated 1613 was in the Harleian Collection. The earliest now known
is dated 1626....'
WILLARD EDWARD FARNHAM 123
book only four appear also in the edition of 16261. Seemingly no one
has remarked that the edition of 1626 is expressly entitled The First
and Best Part, and that there should logically be a second part.
The general outlines of the apocryphal life given by the 1626
edition are well enough known, even to those who have found Scogan's
merriments too idle to read. Scogan is an Oxford M.A. and later a
favoured fool at court. He is banished to France for an offence to
royalty, continues his jests at court there, and is banished again, this
time from France to England. After more jesting in England he dies
and is buried under one of the water-spouts of Westminster Abbey by
his express wish ; his reason is, ' I have ever loved good drinke all the
dayes of my life.' Further details are too accessible to need relation.
As has been said, another and hitherto unnoticed part of the apocry-
phal life appears in the edition of 1613, and because the Bodleian copy
is now the only one accessible, this deserves a more extensive summary :
Scoggin2 is banished from England for seducing the daughter of a London gold-
smith. He goes from Dover to Calais, and from there adventures over a great part
of Europe. In Pikardie he is made ' chiefe warrener ' of all the Parks and Forests
of a wealthy and gay young knight. Put out of this service for indiscretion, he is
hired to a horse courser's servant, but soon loses this place also. He performs some
knavish tricks on the people in order to get money and finally goes to Paris, where
he deceives a vintner and an innkeeper, thereby gaining free wine and board. From
Paris he journeys to Orleans, and at an inn on the road plays practical jokes on the
innkeeper and on certain Hollanders who are guests there. After this Scoggin comes
'unto the citie of Cane in JVormandie, where William the Conqueror King of England
was buried.' Presently he leaves France for Rome, where he sets even the Pope by
the ears and bedevils the friars most outrageously. His encounters with the friars
are many and various. He is next found in Venice, where he makes a fool of a
doctor. He returns to Rome. 'After this Scoggin grew in hate among the Friers,
because he many times made Jestes upon them.' Applying to the Pope himself, he
is made a priest, and has a merry time of it in his church, between whiles travelling
to cities about Rome and adventuring by the way. One day the Pope drops in
upon Scoggin to hear him say service and is so angry with what he hears that he
turns the jester out of his benefice. Scoggin then hires himself as travelling com-
panion to a country squire and plays a trick which comes near to losing him this
place too. At the last we leave hirn cozening the squire's wife and thereby keeping
the position.
If his wanderings are more extensive and his hand is here even more
1 These are : -
(1) Hoic Scoggin taught a French-man Latin to carry him to the Pope. Cf. Hazlitt, n,
p. 65 : How Scogin' s scholler tooke orders.
(2) How Scoggin ouer-tooke a Priest and kept company icith him, and how hee and the
priest prayed for money. Cf. Hazlitt, n, p. 149 : How Scogin and the priest prayed for
money.
(3) How Scoggin and three or foure more deceiued a Tapster. Cf. Hazlitt, n, p. 133 :
Hoiv Scogin and three or foure more deceived a Tapster.
(4) How Scoggin got away the abbot's horse fram (sic) him. Cf. Hazlitt, n, p. 95 : How
Scogin got the abbot's horse.
In the edition of 1613 the jests are not numbered, and there is no pagination.
2 In the edition of 1613, the name is always so spelled.
124 John (Henry) Scogan
set against the Church than in the better-known jests, the hero is con-
sistently the same Scogan. He is a Master of Arts of Oxford, turned
to low buffoonery and living by chicanery, but not forgetful of his Latin.
In a rough way the stories of 1613 seem meant to fit into the scheme
of 1626, amplifying that period of his life between his banishment from
England and his return.
Who then was this Scogan the fool ; what was his Christian name ;
when did he live ? So far as actual records go, he may be only a fiction,
for not a single contemporary reference to him, dependable or otherwise,
has ever been turned up by the many interested persons who have
searched.
The evidence as to Scogan 's period in the Jests themselves would be
untrustworthy anyway, and moreover an examination shows it to be
contradictory. The only date mentioned is 1490, when Scogan is said
to have given a bond to a friar1. We also hear that ' there was a Jesuite
that would always speake mightily against Protestants thinking Scoggin
to be one2.' The word 'Protestant' did not come into use until after
the Diet of Spires in 1529, and the Order of Jesus was not founded
until 1539. Certainly Scogan was not in his heyday both in 1490 and
in 1539. To add to the confusion there are references to a man who is
very probably an historical character of a yet earlier period, a member of
the influential family of Neville. This evidence is worth as much as, if
not more than, the actual dates elsewhere implied, because Neville is
closely bound up with an essential feature of Scogan's apocryphal life.
A certain Sir William Neuil or Nevill acts as an appreciative and
helpful patron to Scogan when he decides to go to court and be a fool3.
Sir William is one of the ' gentlemen of the King's privy chamber ' to
whom ' Scogin was more beholding than the others.'
No one has hitherto pointed out that the only Sir William Neville
who was historically a gentleman of the King's chamber, in position to
patronize Scogan exactly as the Jests describe, was a friend of Chaucer's4.
Sir William de Neville, son of Ralph de Neville, was a knight of
Richard II's chamber in the eighth year of that King's reign5 and
1 Ed. of 1613, How Scoggin cousined a Frier of twenty duckets.
2 Ed. of 1613, Of a lesuite that spake against Scoggin.
3 Ed. of 1626. See Hazlitt, n, p. 100, How Scogin came to the courte like a foole and
wonne twenty pounds by standing under a spout in the raine.
4 Hazlitt rejects another Sir William Neville, d. 1462, on the score of his having lived
too early. (Work cited, n, p. 101, note.)
5 See Dugdale, Baronage of England, London, 1675, i, p. 295, who there refers to
Eotuli Scotiae, 8 Richard II, membr. 3, Westm. 18 Feb., A.D. 1384-5. See also Edmondson's
ed. of Segar, Baronagium Genealogicum.
WILLARD EDWARD FARNHAM 125
probably died in 13891. Willelmus de Nevylle is one of the witnesses
appearing for Chaucer in that mysterious action brought by Cecily
Chaumpaigne against the poet2, and he is almost certainly the man in
question.
Other things in the Jests themselves make it not at all impossible
to say that a date as early as the latter part of the fourteenth century
may have been intended by the first compiler, and that Jesuits and
Protestants may be later accretions. Scogan engineers a characteristic
bit of horseplay at a medieval Easter play in France3, and the detailed
description of the play as well as the teller's introduction makes an early
date wholly possible, perhaps more probable than a later. The following
remark, introducing the tale and placing it in a time so ancient as to
need explanation for its customs, is frequently duplicated in the Jests :
1 And as in that age the whole earth was almost planted with supersti-
tion and idolatry, so such like prophane pastimes was greatly delighted
in, especially playes made of the Scripture at an Easter.'
Furthermore, although so many writers have agreed that the fool
Scogan must have nourished about 1480, there is outside the Jests at
least one good indication that he probably lived earlier. The only thing
approaching a contemporary reference to the man is a Latin epitaph
preserved as one verse in Harleian MS. 15874, and expanded into two
verses in Lansdowne MS. 762 5. Its character makes reference to the
jester Scogan undoubted. The date of Harleian 1587 can be approxi-
mately determined. It is an ordinary schoolboy's exercise book concocted
by a monk named William Ingram, apparently not all at once. One
specimen legal instrument bears the date XIIII March XIIII Ed-
ward IV6, another, in the same hand as Scogan's epitaph, 14747. The
latest date appearing in the whole manuscript is 1480 in another section:
' Explicit anno dommi m° cccc 1 xxx08,'
which is certainly the date when Ingram finished part of his work,
perhaps the date for all. If, then, we date the manuscript c. 1480, we
must conclude that Scogan was dead by 1480 instead of in his prime.
Moreover, the epitaph does not tell us exactly when Scogan flourished,
and to give time for his epitaph to become a copybook classic Scogan
may well have been dead many years before 1480.
1 See Dictionary of National Biography for life.
2 Chaucer Life Records, p. 225.
3 Ed. 1613, How Scoggin set a whole towne together by the eares.
4 fol. 193 a. 5 fol. 20 a. 6 fol. 207 b.
7 fol. 204 a. 8 fol. 120 b.
126 John (Henry) Scogan
The epitaph in its first line calls Scogan John :
' Hie iacet in tumulo corpus Scogan ecce Johannis.'
It makes him a man of mirth, but leaves the way open for his having
been a poet. Caxton, in a short collection of Chaucerian pieces pretty
certainly printed before February 2, 14791, flatly assigns the Moral
Balade, which modern critics give to the historical Henry Scogan, to
a John Skogan. This attribution at once makes more dubious the
existence of any John Scogan in Caxton's own time, namely during the
reign of Edward IV, to whom Scogan has been said to have been jester,
and decidedly raises the question whether the fool and the poet were
not the same. It seems hardly probable that a man of Caxton's mental
parts could stupidly confuse a Scogan of his own day with a contemporary
of Chaucer.
Authoritative ascriptions of the Moral Balade are as follows :
Ashmole 59 : to Henry Scogan. (Shirley's notation.)
Harleian 2251 : No ascription. Heading simply Querela senis.
Cambridge University MS. FF iv 9 : No heading. No ascription2.
Caxton : to John Skogan.
Thynne : to Scogan.
Flee fro the Presse is headed simply Proverbium Scogani in MS. 203,
Corpus Christi College, Oxford3.
To name the poet we are left with Shirley's word for Henry against
Caxton's for John. Shirley was not contemporary with his author and
noted the ascription according to his own belief, probably just as did
Caxton. Caxton came not so very long after the copyist and perhaps
has as good a right to be heard.
The duality of Scogan simply cannot be argued from the duality of
names, for there is no consistency in the use of the two which can make
John anything but inextricably the poet whom Shirley calls Henry.
Earlier biographers — Bale4 and Tanner5 the chief — call Scogan John
when they call him anything at all, and while they bristle with ana-
chronisms and errors such as making him contemporary with Chaucer
1 See William Blades, The Life and Typography of William Caxton, London, 1861,
n, pp. 63 and 70. A fragmentary copy of the Caxton edition is in the British Museum.
2 This manuscript has not been noticed by Chaucer editors. I owe knowledge of its
existence to Professor Carleton Brown, who called my attention to it. The poem is here
incomplete. See Professor Brown's Register of Middle English Religious Verse.
3 Warton, History of English Poetry, 1824, n, p. 447, note c, gives the manuscript
erroneously as CCC., Oxon., 208, and says that the poem is headed Proverbium Joannis
Scogan. I can find no hint in the manuscript that Scogan was named John.
4 Scriptorum illustrium maioris Brittaniae 1557-9. Centuria undecima, LXX.
5 Bibliotheca Brittanico-Hibernica, London, 1748, p. 677.
WILLARD EDWARD FARNHAM 127
and at the same time jester to Edward IV, show clearly that the literary
and unlearned world believed in only one Scogan, poet and jester too.
Holinshed is evidently only following Bale, whom he refers to in other
places1, when he places ' Skogan a learned gentleman and student ' at
the court of Edward IV2. If the name of Scogan and its traditions had
not been so well known and frequently used, it would not be so curious
that until Ritson3 tried to prove their existence no one sought two
separate men under the name.
There is always to be considered the Scogan tradition, independent
of scholars and their researches, which has given us fairly consistently
and in many places the character of one Scogan, both poet and gentle-
man clown. References in Elizabethan times are so numerous that no
one has ever collected them all4. Shakespeare in what he makes Shallow
say of Scogan5, which precipitated such a tidy passage-at-arms between
Ritson and the editors of the Malone-Boswell Variorum6, obviously had
in mind Scogan the fool, whether poet or no, and by placing him under
Henry IV adds something to the evidence that Scogan the ancient poet
and Scogan the ancient fool were identical. He undoubtedly gives the
conception of Scogan generally held at that time. Ben Jonson7 and
Gabriel Harvey8 significantly couple Scogan with Skelton, who was also
traditionally poet and gentleman clown at the same time and inspired
a collection of jests very similar to Scoggins Jests.
Lastly, in spite of a strong desire evinced by Skeat and others to
make Chaucer's Scogan solidly respectable, Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan
certainly admits the possibility that Scogan played 'sporting parts,'
though probably, as Holinshed charitably remarks9, ' not in such uncivil
manner as hath beene of him reported.' Chaucer's Envoy is replete with
affectionate banter, but the fact that this banter is never bitter or sar-
castic and does not tear up Scogan's character is no reason for saying
that it makes him out all that is sedate and proper. Lines 20 and 21 :
Alias, Scogan ! of olde folk ne yonge
Was never erst Scogan blamed for his tonge !
by which Skeat says Chaucer 'gives him an excellent character for
1 Chronicles, 1577, n, pp. 1003 and 1117, for example. 9
a Ibid., n, p. 1355.
3 Bibliographia Poetica, 1802, pp. 97 ff.
4 For a few see article on Scogan, Dictionary of National Biography, and Hazlitt, work
cited, introduction.
6 'The same Sir John, the very same. I see him break Skogan 's head at the court-
gate, when 'a was a crack, not thus high.' 2 Hy. IV, in, 2.
6 Ed. 1821, xvn, pp. 117 ff., notes.
7 In the Masque of the Fortunate Isles (1624).
s Works, ed. Grosart, 1884, i, p. 165, n, pp. 109, 132, 215.
9 Chronicles, 1577, n, p. 1355.
128 John (Henry] Scogan
wisdom of speech1/ have a most suspicious air of playful irony. Ad-
mittedly what one sees in the Envoy is a matter of individual reaction.
Personally I think the poem rings truest as amicable raillery sent from
one poet who knew fun when he saw it to another who did not always
hold fast to wisdom of speech and who had that rarest gift of being able
to find himself funny. The very spontaneity of Chaucer's banter seems
to imply a subject who would repay the effort with an appreciative
laugh.
To accept one Scogan instead of two and feel any satisfaction in our
belief we shall have to find some passable explanation for the mixing of
the names John and Henry. This is a matter on which there cannot
be much argument with information as limited as it is. About the
existence of a Henry Scogan contemporary with Chaucer, who may
well have been a poet, there is no doubt2. It is perhaps simplest merely
to say that Henry Scogan would seem to be the man we are searching
for, and that after his death the name John was sometimes given him
in confusion. The thing is wholly possible. John and Henry are both
extremely common names, and records show that Henry Scogan's own
brother, from whom he inherited the manor of Haviles, was named
John3. It is even possible that a mixing of common Christian names
explains Scogan's being placed under Edward IV by some writers. The
writing of Edward IV in error for Henry IV just once could have started
the train. Of course, the mistake is stupid, but Tanner called Scogan
'regi Edwardi VI joculator4' when he certainly meant to make him
jester to Edward IV, and in general there are enough errors and self-
contradictions in what has been written about Scogan to furnish analogy
for almost any kind of mistake.
We have one Scogan definitely established by historical record, and
when we look as closely as we can, we find nothing definite to hinder
our making him the fool of the Jests, probably rather scandalously
vulgarized, the poet, and the friendly butt of Chaucer's Envoy. More
than that, there is a great deal to favour the supposition.
WILLARD EDWARD FARNHAM.
LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S.A.
1 Chaucer, i, p. 83.
2 For the most important facts about him see Dictionary of National Biography and
convenient summary by Kittredge, (Harvard) Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature,
1892, i, pp. 114 ff.
3 Parkins, Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk (Blomefield's
Norfolk), 1807, vn, pp. 141-2, quoted by Kittredge, (Harvard) Studies and Notes in Philo-
logy and Literature, 1892, i, p. 114.
4 Bibliotheca Brittanico-Hibernica, 1748, p. 677.
'THE BIRTH OF MERLIN.'
STRANGE that among the many Shakespearean critics who must (or
should) have read this play, and the few who have edited it, not one has
seen that it contains much that reveals the hands of Beaumont and
Fletcher ! Yet, although the Birth of Merlin, at first sight, does not
seem to resemble the dramatic work of these two worthies, a closer
survey of the play will disclose a very clear connexion with Cupid's
Revenge.
Like The Mayor of Queenborough, Merlin is a British play, some
characters — Vortiger, Uther Pendragon, Constantius, and Aurelius-—
figuring in both. But, although The Mayor is, in great part, founded on
quasi-historical sources, the whole of the main plot of Merlin and some
minor incidents are derived from Sidney's Arcadia, which book also
furnished the material for Cupid's, Revenge. The two plays use identical
stories, but the characterisation in both presents some curious diver-
gencies from the originals. Cupid's Revenge is built upon the episode of
Plangus (a story that reads so much like a synopsis of a play that it is
difficult to see how any dramatist could have ignored its obvious appeal).
But, of the three characters whose emotions and conflicting passions pro-
vide the main theme of the tragedy, the Duke is drawn from Basilius.
The British queen with the Arcadian name of Artesia, the principal
female personage in Merlin, is transformed from an ordinary coquette
into a Saxon Bacha — a woman of lustful and murderous impulse. Again,
in Cupid's Revenge, the Duke has one daughter — chaste and virtuous —
whereas, in Merlin, Donobert, the British lord, has two. In the Arcadia,
Basilius had two daughters, and, strangely enough, in Merlin there are
speeches of Donobert that ring with a quite perceptible kingly tone,
suggesting that the reviser of the play has cut the character of Aurelius
in half, robbing him of his daughters and leaving him an almost colour-
less monarch. On the other hand, Edol, in Merlin, not only plays the
part of Ismenus- in Cupid's Revenge, but also takes some speeches out of
the mouth of Leucippus, which were probably first uttered by the
Prince in the play afterwards converted into Merlin. When the parallels
come to be noted, it will be seen that each play contains speeches that
M.L. R. xvi. 9
130 ' The Birth of Merlin '
would have been more natural to characters in the other. This also
points to the one-time existence of a play — 'X' — which formed the
basis of both Merlin and Cupid's Revenge, and which, in form, more
nearly resembled the British drama.
The important constructive links between the two plays will now be
traced, following which will come the general parallels. The first acts of
both The Birth of Merlin and Cupid's Revenge chiefly deal with the
episode of the two daughters of Basilius, but the main plot is touched
upon in each case before the act closes by the mention of the absence
of the Prince (in Merlin, Uter ; in Cupid's Revenge, Leucippus). The
opening of the first act of Merlin is probably by Fletcher, to whom the
following speech belongs :
Would he could tell me .any news of the lost prince, there's 'twenty talents
offered to him that finds him.
From the use of the word ' talents,' one may infer that the original play
was cast for the classic regions of Arcadia and not Britain.
In the second scene, which contains a fair amount of Beaumont's
work, the absent Prince is again alluded to :
Aur. No tidings of our brother yet?
In the fourth scene of Act I of Cupids Revenge, Leontius asks :
No news yet of my son ?
and again :
Where is the Prince?
In each case the return of the Prince is so timed as to make it impos-
sible for him to prevent the marriage (in the case of Leucippus, of his
father to Bacha ; in the case of Uter, of his brother to Artesia).
Each royal bridegroom, upon his wedding day, dispenses healths to
some one. The proffer to Leucippus in Cupid's Revenge is :
Leon. I have now
Some near affairs, but I will drink a health
To thee anon. in ii.
But the Bacchic invitation given to the Hermit in Merlin is conveyed
in a lengthier passage, and is noteworthy because it shows that its
author could not have borrowed from Cupid's Revenge :
Aur. We'll do thee honour first to pledge my queen.
H&rm. I drink no healths, great king, and if I did,
I would be loath to part with health to those
Who have no power to give it back again.
It will be seen that the last two lines are remarkably characteristic of
Beaumont's style. They form, so far as I am aware, no close parallel
WILLIAM WELLS 131
with any others in his acknowledged work, the nearest approach to
them being, perhaps, in Philaster's speech :
I would do much to save that noble life:
Yet would be loath to have posterity, etc.
In Merlin, the Prince is introduced to his brother's wife as to a
stranger. He had, however, previously seen her, as is to be gathered
from some rather hazy passages wherein we are darkly told that, her
identity unknown, she had appeared to the young man, a beautiful and
entrancing vision. (In this way, the plot of Merlin still preserves a
similarity to that of Cupid's Revenge.) The lengthy dialogue that
follows the introduction is mainly Beaumont's, the most significant
passage being :
thou art too near akin,
And such an act above all name 's a sin
Not to be blotted out, Heaven pardon me !
This might very well have found a place in A King and No King.
There is the same suggestion of incest in this play as in Cupid's
Revenge, in which, after her marriage with Leontius, Bacha endeavours
to renew her intimacy with the son. He refuses, whereupon she resolves
to betray him to his father, by means of a suggestio falsi. The situation
in Merlin is not quite so clear. Artesia, too, immediately after her
marriage with Aurelius, makes overtures to the Prince, but, in the one
scene where the two are alone, they seem to be playing at cross pur-
poses. Each appears to be merely pretending to be in love with the
other. However, the same result is achieved by Artesia as Bacha
accomplishes, though the methods are somewhat different. As Leucippus
was betrayed to Leontius, so Uter was to Aurelius. Leucippus was
accused of promoting plots against the Duke, but no evidence is forth-
coming in the play that he did so, though dark hints are given that he
was an unwitting chief of the group of good men opposed to the evil
rule of Bacha. Uter, however, certainly appears to have conspired
against his brother, and, when the rupture came, all the worthy British
lords supported the younger man against the King. In Cupid's Revenge
the hero is imprisoned and afterwards rescued. In Mgprlin Aurelius
allies himself with the Saxons to make war on the Prince's party.
The faction of Artesia, like Bacha's, is defeated, and both these
wicked consorts are denounced by their opponents, Artesia by Edol, in
the following passage (Fletcher) :
Art. You know me, sir?
Edol. Yes, deadly sin, we know you,
And shall discover all your villany. Birth of Merlin, in vi.
9—2
132 ' The Birth of Merlin '
In Cupid's Revenge (again the poet is Fletcher) :
Bacha. Do you not know me, lords?
Nisus. Yes, deadly sin, we know you. v ii.
Artesia captured, Fletcher, through the mouth of Edol, gives her
sentence :
Take her hence,
And stake her carcase in the burning sun,
Till it be parch'd and dry, and then flay off
Her wicked skin and stuff the pelt with straw,
To(be shewn up and down at fairs and markets,
Two pence apiece. The Birth of Merlin, v ii.
The judgment of Ismenus (again by Fletcher upon) Bacha is as follows :
I would have thee, in vengeance of this man, whose peace is made in Heaven by
this time, tied to a post, and dried i' £he sun, and after carried about and shewn at
fairs for money. Cupid's Revenge, v ii.
But the closing speeches of Cupid's Revenge were by Beaumont, and he
left the* ultimate disposal of Bacha's carcase to the audience, after she
herself had bereft her body of life. In each case, it should be noted, the
death of the monarch is due, directly or indirectly, to his wife. There
are, however, notable differences in the climaxes of the two plays, and
the improved close of Cupid's Revenge is alone sufficient to indicate
which was the later drama.
The similarity of the two main plots having been shown, attention
will now be given to the remainder of the remarkable series of parallels
that connects the two plays :
He's a jewel worth a kingdom. Birth of Merlin, n ii.
Be not ashamed, sir ; you are worth a kingdom. Cupid's Revenge, I iv.
0 the gods!
It is a thought that takes away my sleep. Birth of Merlin, n ii.
'T is a truth
That takes my sleep away. Cupids Revenge, in ii.
At the opening of scene iv of the first act of Cupid's Revenge, we have
the following piece of dialogue by Fletcher :
Tim. Is your lordship for the wars this summer?
Ism. Timantus, wilt thou go with me?
Tim. If I had a company, my lord.
Ism. Of fiddlers ? Thou a company !
No, no ; keep thy company at home and cause cuckolds.
The wars will hurt thy face ....
If thou wilt needs go, and go thus, get a case
For thy captainship, a shower will spoil thee else.
In The Birth of Merlin, Act II, scene ii :
Capt. What shall we do with our companies, my lord ?
Edol. Keep them at home to increase cuckolds,
And get some cases for your captainships.
Smooth up your brows, the wars has spoilt your faces.
WILLIAM WELLS 133
This is one of those rare instances where a parallel speech is more
natural to the character in The Birth of Merlin than it is to the one in
Cupid's Revenge, for Timantus was a cowardly courtier, and was never
likely to have had charge of a company in the war. The alliterative
rendering of the rare proverb (' Company makes cuckolds ') is again
used by Fletcher in Valentinian, Act n, scene ii :
Claud. Sirrah, what ails my lady, that of late
She never cares for company ?
Marc. I know not,
Unless it be that company causes cuckolds.
More close parallels are found in the following extracts :
Edol. Your gross mistake would make
Wisdom herself run madding through the streets,
And quarrel with her shadow. Birth of Merlin, n ii.
Leuc. The usage I have had, I know, would make
Wisdom herself run frantic through the streets,
And Patience quarrel with her shadow. Cupid's Revenge, iv i.
It must be admitted that Beaumont's thought is much more appro-
priately spoken by Leucippus than by Edol, who had not experienced
those intense personal wrongs that wrung from the Prince the beautiful
figures of distraction. Edol continues :
Death.
Why killed you not that woman ?
Dono., Glos. O, my lord.
Edol. The great devil take me quick, had I been by,
And all the women of the world were barren,
She should have died, ere he had married her
On these conditions.
Cador. It is not reason that directs you thus.
Edol. Then have I none, for all I have directs me.
Birth of Merlin^ II ii.
Beaumont repeats this in Cupid's Revenge, iv i :
Leuc. Thus she has used me : Is't not a good mother ?
Ism. Why killed you her not?
Leuc. The gods forbid it.
Ism. 'Slight, if all the women in the world were barren, she had died.
Leuc. But 'tis not reason directs thee thus.
Ism. Then have I none at all, for all I have directs me.
At the end of the scene (ii ii) in Merlin, the line
Veiled with a deeper reach in villany 9
recalls
You have a deeper reach in evil than I. Cupid's Revenge, n ii.
The first scene in Act III shows the reviser's presence very clearly,
but it contains at least one Fletcher jest :
I am even pined away with fretting, there's nothing but flesh and bones about
me.
134 'The Birth of Merlin '
This is repeated in Wit Without Money, v i :
This morning-prayer has brought me into a consumption ; I have nothing left
but flesh and bones about me.
The opening of scene iv is clearly by the writer of Act iv, scene iii of
Philaster, and the first part of scene vi contains marks of Beaumont,
while the second portion has such pieces of Fletcher's stuff (the word is
justified) as * swarms of lousy knaves,' ' You fleering antics,' and
Ratsbane, do not urge me.
Ratsbane, get you gone, or — Cupid's Revenge, iv i.
Wildfire and brimstone eat thee.
Wildfire and brimstone take thee. Cupids Revenge, v ii.
It will be seen that these parallel passages do not always follow the
same order in both plays. When reconstructing from ' X ' the more
finished Cupid's Revenge, the authors evidently ransacked the discarded
play in a very free and wholesale fashion. For example, the following
lines from an early scene (n i) in The Birth of Merlin :
Prince. Ha ! what art thou, that thus rude and boldly
Darest take notice of a wretch
So much allied to misery as I am?
are twice employed, with but slight alteration, in the final scene of
Cupid's Revenge :
Leuc. What art thou, that into this dismal place,
Which nothing could find out but misery,
Thus boldly step'st?
Leuc. What worse than mad are you
That seek out sorrow?
Again, the couplet that closes scene ii of Act in of Cupid's Revenge :
Nor shall it be withstood :
They that begin in lust, must end in blood
is an alteration of :
If it be fate, it cannot be withstood :
We got our crown so, be it lost in blood. Birth of Merlin, iv i.
There is, however, a much closer copy of this in the final lines of
Philaster :
Let princes learn
By this to rule the passions of their blood,
For what Heaven wills can never be withstood.
This play furnishes another parallel with the work under notice in the
lines :
Are. Leave us, Philaster.
Phil. I have done.
Phar. You are gone. By Heaven, I'll fetch you back.
Philaster, I ii.
Glos. No more, son Edwin.
Edw. I have done, sir : I take my leave.
Edol. But thou shalt not ; you shall take no leave of me, sir.
Birth of Merlin, II ii.
WILLIAM WELLS 135
It may be thought that, although there undoubtedly are pieces of
Beaumont and Fletcher's work in The Birth of Merlin, their presence is
due to unscrupulous and thinly-disguised theft by some playwright-hack
from Cupid's Revenge. But, as has been shown, all the parallels are not
derived from that tragedy, and there are passages in Merlin which,
though obviously by Beaumont, have no direct correspondence with his
known work elsewhere. No less important are the slight touches here
and there that ' give him away.' There is the frequent occurrence of
' trust me,' a phrase of which Beaumont was fond. There is also the
strange exclamation, ' Cover me with night/ repeated later in the form,
* O darkness, cover me.' A version of this, ' Darkness, be thou my cover/
occurs in The Coxcomb, which also contains ' The will of Heaven be
done ! ' a characteristic utterance of Beaumont, repeated in Merlin.
The marks of Fletcher are quite as distinct.
Assuming, then, that the passages denoting the presence of Beaumont
and Fletcher are valid and not foisted into the play by an imitator, and
recognising the vital links connecting the two plays, it does not require
a very active imagination to enable one to see what has happened. There
must have been in existence, before both Cupid's Revenge and The Birth
of Merlin, a play — ' X ' — which was the first draft of Cupids Revenge.
1 X/ probably, did not contain the history of Merlin, though the play
must have included something akin to it. There are so many points of
contact between Modestia and Hydaspes, that there can be little doubt
that 'X' contained the story of Donobert (probably, originally the
King) and his two daughters. The character of Leontius, afterwards
shattered by Fletcher (who transforms him into a passion-crazed and
not very intelligent courtier), corresponds, in the opening act of Cupids
Revenge, in thought and language, to that of Donobert in The Birth of
Merlin. ( X ' may not have contained those parts of Merlin dealing with
Vortiger. They are not very closely connected with the main theme,
and the length of the cast alone in The Birth of Merlin is sufficient to
warrant the belief that the original list has been added to. The use of
the word ' talents ' has already been noticed. One may assume, at least,
that the scene of ' X ' was laid in Arcadia and not Britain.
But ' X ' must have contained the triangular story (Leontius — Bacha
— Leucippus and Aurelius — Artesia — Uter). Indeed, this story must
have bulked far more largely there than in Merlin, where it has every
appearance of having been lessened. There are unmistakable gaps that
cannot be satisfactorily explained unless one believes that the tampering
finger of the adapter has been busy with it. At the end of the second
136 ' The Birth of Merlin '
act of Merlin, the Prince is invited to a meeting with Artesia. Less than
a fourth, but more than a fifth, of the play in bulk is thrust between
the invitation and the interview. Part of the intervening matter,
perhaps, displaced a scene between the two lovers preparatory to the
fateful interview, and this displaced scene may have put the status of
the lovers in a clearer light than is evident in The Birth of Merlin.
' X ' must also have^ contained something that suggested both Zoilus in
Cupid's Revenge and the juvenile Merlin. There are passages in The
Birth of Merlin, referring to the infant prodigy, that might be more
suitably applied to Zoilus.
In attempting to find a reason for the differences in treatment
between The Birth of Merlin and Cupid's Revenge, the writer of this
paper had assumed that the latter was a skilful adaptation of ' X,' and
that this earlier play had not been destroyed but had merely been laid
aside, eventually to be farther altered by another dramatist. But
reference to a contemporary play throws an entirely different light upon
the problem and makes it appear likely — nay, almost certain — that the
alteration of * X ' into The Birth of Merlin was made by Beaumont and
Fletcher themselves, and this before the appearance of Cupid's Revenge.
In or before 1605, Day brought upon the stage The Isle of Gulls. This
is a dramatic rendering of the tale of Basilius in the Arcadia, which
tale also served as the direct basis of ' X,' and partly of Cupid's Revenge.
Unknown to one another, it would seem that Beaumont and Fletcher
and Day were engaged at the same time upon plays with identical
stories. Day's was the first to see the light, probably early in 1605 — it
was published in 1606. Beaumont and Fletcher's was then completed or
almost completed. Obviously it would have been inopportune to launch
it under its existing form. Either the work must have been abandoned
or so changed as not to bear a close resemblance to The Isle of Gulls.
This was done by turning the Greek play into a British one ; by giving
the daughters of Basilius to Donobert ; and by introducing the fabulous
history of Merlin. For the latter, the dramatists were probably indebted
to an earlier play, very likely by Greene ; but it is certain that no
historical sources at their command could have supplied them with the
characterless effigy of Aurelius.
A perusal of the two plays — The Isle of Gulls and The Birth of
Merlin — will bring to light some half-a-dozen parallel speeches, from
which it would appear that, for some way at least, Day and Beaumont
and Fletcher were travelling along the same road. And a jest of the
clown in Merlin not only dates the play, but gives additional support to
WILLIAM WELLS 137
the theory accounting for its reconstruction. To the question, c What are
you ? ' the Clown replies (in Act in, sc. i) :
'A couple of great Britons.'
There is no point in this remark unless it refers to the Act of October,
1604, by which the two kingdoms were styled ' Great Britain,' and it is
obvious that the jest must have been made when the Act was fresh in
memory.
I am aware that The Birth of Merlin is not a convincing specimen
of Beaumont and Fletcher's work. It is probably the earliest drama of
theirs that has come down to us, and were it not for the parallels that
exist between this play and Cupid's Revenge, it is doubtful whether their
authorship of it would have been detected. However, this does not com-
prise the whole of the evidence. The play is clearly the work of two
poets, and in Act II, sc. ii, there is already the promise of that graver
verse that .was to distinguish Beaumont from Fletcher. For farther
proof of parentage, there is the unmistakable figure of Edol, that
characteristic specimen of the military humourist who almost invariably
supplies the comic relief in -the serious plays of Beaumont and Fletcher.
As Rowley's name was connected with the work by the publisher, he
may have revised it for a revival.
WILLIAM WELLS.
LONDOX.
LOAN-WORDS FROM ENGLISH IN EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY FRENCH.
I.
THE present article was suggested by M. Bonnaffe's Dictionnaire des
Anglicismes which I reviewed for this journal1. In my review I said that
it did not appear to me that the author had quite realized the number
of English loan-words which crept into French in the eighteenth century,
and I have put together the following notes to justify my statement.
I expressed surprise that M. Bonnaffe, in his historical account of
anglicism in French, has omitted all reference to the Revocation of the
Edict of Nantes (1685). The French protestant refugees were destined
to be the most valuable connecting link between England and France.
In the history of ideas, or rather of the transmission of ideas, their place
is high. I imagine that, as interpreters in French of English thought
and English life, as translators into French of English books, they must
have found Miege's Great French Dictionary a most valuable work of
reference. M. Bonnaffe, who quotes among his numerous sources Miege's
New Dictionary, French and English (1677), his Short Dictionary,
English and French, 2nd ed. (1685), and his Estat present de VAngleterre,
2 vols (1701-2), does not mention his Great French Dictionary, though
a glance at his article on falot shows that he has used the French part
which appeared in 1688. It is, however, the English part, dated 1687,
which it is particularly important to consult.
Let us examine the English political and administrative vocabulary
of the period, a portion of which, in its French dress, was destined to
play such an important part during the Revolution of 1789. I find in
M. Bonnaffe's list the following words of which, in each case, I give the
earliest date he has found of the use in French and, wherever I can do
so, a still earlier date; adresse (1688, already in Miege 1687), alderman
(1688)2, allegeance (1688), baronnet (1669), bill (1669), comite (1656),
1 Modern Language Review, xvi, pp. 90 ff.
2 M. Bonnaffe quotes an instance of the use of this word in 1363 in Anglo-Norman :
'Face ent assavoir lez Maire et aldermans a la dite citee' (Liber Albus, p. 400). Of course,
in Anglo-Norman, alderman is found quite early, in a different sense, e.g., c. 1135-47,
G. Gaimar, VEstorie des Engles, v, 2457 : ' Cheor Palderman les rechacat. '
PAUL BABBIER 139
consort (1669), constable (1777, but in the form connetable already in
Miege 1687), coroner (1688), corporation (167 '2), excise (1688, but already
in Miege 1687), jury (1688), lady (1669), nobleman (1698), pairesse
(1698), pondage (1656), queen (1688), quorum (1688), recorder (1687),
sAm/(1688, but sherif and sous-sherif are in Miege 1687), sir (1779,
already in Miege 1687), solicitor (1872, already in Miege 1687 solliciteur,
and solliciteur general repeatedly in the translation of Clarendon, Hist,
des guerres civiles d'Angl., e.g., i (1704), 182, ii (1704), 62 etc.), speaker
(1649), steward (1669), test (1688, already in Miege 1687), tonnage
(1656), tory (1704, already in Miege 1687), verdict (1669), vote, voter
(1727, but already in 1704 in Clarendon, Hist. d. guerres civ. d'Angl.,
ii, 138, 197, 385, 495 etc.), warrant (1671), whig (1715, already in Miege
1687), writ (1702). All these words are really of approximately the
same date; where an earlier date than 1685 has been given to any word,
it is as a general rule because M. Bonnaffe has found it in Laurens, Un
subside accorde au roi d'Angleterre, Paris, 1656,- or in Chamberlayne,
VEstat present d'Angleterre, 2 vols in 12mo, Amsterdam, 1669.
The way in which Miege translates various words of this class is in
many ways illuminating. He devoted to them special care and in the
case of many of them he has added in English long explanations of their
use. I imagine that few men of his time had such a competent know-
ledge of the French and English languages ; and it stands out clearly
that he was at pains to discover purely French equivalents of English
political and administrative terms. He translates act (of parliament) by
arret and bill by projet ; now we know that bill as a French word has
been found in 1685 by the Dictionnaire General and M. Bonnaffe has
been able to quote it from the Chamberlayne of 1669; acte is also in
Chamberlayne, i, 106 : ' Sans lequel consentement le bill ou 1'acte du
parlement n'est qu'un corps sans ame ' ; it must have been an every-
day word among the French refugees and Miege himself repeatedly uses
it in other articles of his Dictionary, e.g. : ' Auncel-weight, sorte de poids
autrefois en usage, mais qui est aboli par acte de parlement.' Acte and
billy in speaking of Parliament, are both English loan-words ; one wonders
why M. Bonnaffe accepts bill but rejects acte.
Take again the two words address and petition. The Fr. adresse
offers no difficulty ; M. Bonnaffe admits it as a loan-word, quoting from
the Gazette de Londres of August 6, 1688: 'addresse tres humble des
grands jures de la province de Hereford.' In 1687 Miege says : ' On
appelle aussi addresse (en terme anglois) les requetes par ecrit que le
parlement lorsq'il est assemble presente de terns en terns au roi ; et en
140 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
general toutes ces soumissions formelles qu'une societe fait au roi par
des deputez, en des occasions extraordinaires. Du terns des derniers
parlemens, on appeloit addresses les instructions que les electeurs
donnoient par ecrit aux membres qu'ils avoient eleus.' M. Bonnaffe
admits adresse but not petition. But surely petition in sense 3° of the
Dictionnaire General, 'Requete ecrite aux representants de 1'autorite, aux
grands corps politiques/ is an anglicism, used particularly in the his-
torical petition des droits and the still commoner droit de petition ; it is
in that sense that the word is most vigorous and to which belong the
derived words petitionnaire, petitionnement and petitionner (the last con-
sidered new by Necker in 1792). In its English sense, petition had at
first a rival in requeste which is used by Miege to translate petition ; and
so requeste is used to render petition in the translation of Clarendon's
History, i (1704), 157, but both requeste and petition are found in vi
(1709), 419. And so too with many other words : speaker (of the House
of Commons) is orateur, president in Miege, and orateur has the same
sense in the translation of Clarendon. In dealing with the history of
these English loan-words, it is important to note the various ways in
which the English idea was rendered ; constable was officially admitted
to the Dictionnaire de I'Academie in 1835 and has not been found by
M. Bonnaffe before 1777; but in 1687 Miege says: ' Constable, conne-
table. Je rends le mot de constable par celui de connetable en frangois,
parce que c'est le plus court. Je sai bien qu'il y a beaucoup de differ-
ence dans la charge des conne tables anglois et celle des conne tables de
France. Mais aussi quand je dis connetable, j'enten tin connetable a
Fangloise et c'est ce qu'il faut maintenant expliquer...' In writing a
history of the word constable in French, it is right to quote Miege and
such texts as the following which show that connetable was used for a
long time in the sense of the later constable :
1704. Clarendon^ Hist. d. guerres civ. d'AngL, ii, 75: 'Les juges de paix, en
execution de cetordre, enjoignirent aux connetables de mettre des corps de garde sur
le bord de la riviere...'
1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lettres d?un Frangois, i, 112, n. : 'Ces gardes que les
Anglois appellent connetables et qui font la patrouille de Londres...'
1789. Dutens, L'Ami des etrangers qui voy agent en Angleterre, p. 41 : * Les conne- '
tables... veillent aussi au bon ordre ; ils ont le pouvoir d'arr£ter les individus.'
Other important loan-words of the class we are considering have
been omitted by M. Bonnaffe.
The French magistrates known as juges de paix were established by
a law of August 24, 1790, and they have become such an integral part of
French life that the English origins of the name tend to be forgotten.
But the following texts will, I think, show them clearly :
PAUL BAKBIER 141
1687. Miege, The Great Fr. Diet., 2nd part: 1A justice of the peace, juge ou
justicier de paix. C'est une sorte de magistrature etablie dans les grandes villes et
autres comrnunautez pour maintenir la paix et pour conoltre des desordres...'
1704. Clarendon, Hist, des guerres civ. d'Angl.,ii, 74 : 'Us firent dresser un acte
par le garde du grand sceauportant ordre auxcherifs et jugesde paix, de fairegarder
les lieux...'
1729. Boyer, Diet, angl.fr. : ' justice of the peace : juge ou justicier de paix, un
commissaire de quartier.'
1745. [L'abbe Le Blanc], Lettres d'un Francois, ii, 152 : * L'homme d'eglise, Phomrne
de loi, ce qu'on appelle ici le juge de paix, le simple paysan, riche ou pauvre, en un
mot tout Anglois de quelqu'etat qu'il soit, quitte tout pour la chasse.'
1750. [P. T. N. Hurtault], Coup d'oeil anglois sur les ceremonies du mariage,
xxxix : ' En Angleterre, pendant quelque terns, les juges de paix furent charges de
cette administration . . .'
1759. L'abbe Expilly, Descr. historique geographique des isles Britanniques, 217 :
' Tons les aldermanns qui ont ete maires, et les trois plus anciens de ceux qui ne
sont pas parvenus & cette dignite, ont droit d'exercer 1'office de juge de paix.'
Another interesting loan-word from English is agitateur, the early
history of which is indicated by the following texts :
1687. Miege, The Great Fr. Diet., 2nd part : ' agitator, agent solliciteur. Du
terns des dernieres guerres civiles, particulierement 1'an 1647, on appeloit agitators
deux soldats tirez de chaque regiment de 1'armee qui etoit pour lors independants,
pour solliciter les aftaires de leurs regiments, et pour s'assembler en conseil la-dessus.'
1709. Clarendon, Hist, des guerr. civ. d'Angl., v, 83 : 'On reconnut que les officiers
et ceux qu'on appelloit les agitateurs etoient ses creatures et qu'ils ne faisoient et ne
feroient rien que par son ordre.'
1729. Boyer, Diet. fr. angl. : 'agitateur s.m. C'est ainsi que dtirant les guerres
civiles d'Angleterre, on nommoit ceux qui gouvernoient 1'armee parlementaire.'
1756. Voltaire, Moeurs, 180 : 'Le conseil des agitateurs (en Angleterre).' [This is
the Diet. Ge'n.'s earliest instance.]
The origins of agitateur are seen to be clearly English. Later, in the
Revolutionary period, it became a hackneyed word and constantly recurs
in the debates of the National Convention; I quote from Bossange's
edition of 1828 (iii, 235) the following statement made on February 26,
1793, by the spokesman of a deputation: 'La loi a et6 violee : des
agitateurs, payes par les ennemis de la republique, ont cherche a exciter
le peuple.' L. S. Mercier introduces the word in his Neologie (1801),
i, 17. In an unofficial edition of the Dictionnaire de I'Academie Frangaise
published by Mon tardier and Leclerc in 1802, agitateur is explained as
* celui qui excite de 1'agitation, du trouble, de la fermentation dans une
assemblee politique ou parmi le peuple.' By this time aaiter and agita-
tion had acquired their political value ; it is interesting to notice that
in their special political sense, both agiter and agitation are, so to speak,
derived from agitateur.
At the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the English
parliament could be either adjourned or prorogued or dissolved, and the
action corresponding was called adjournment, prorogation, dissolution.
Now, if we consider the French words ajourner, ajournement, we find
142 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
that the Dictionnaire General classifies their modern meanings as follows:
ajourner, (1) to summon (to appear on a fixed day), (2) to put off (to a
fixed day); ajournement, (1) summons, (2) adjournment (in the English
sense). Of these meanings, no. 1 of ajourner, ajournement are the only
ones known to Richelet in 1680 and to Miege in 1688, the only ones
noted by the Richelet of 1732. But in 1771 the Dictionnaire de Trevoux,
while still giving ajourner, ajournement their law sense, adds : ' ajourne-
ment se dit en Angleterre d'une espece de prorogation par laquelle on
rernet la seance du parlement a un autre temps, toutes choses demeurant
en etat.' And this use of the words is older, for s ajourner occurs
repeatedly in 1704 in the translation of Clarendon's History of the Civil
War, e.g., ii, 108 : ' Ainsi ils resolurent avec plus de raison que la
chambre s'ajourneroit pour deux ou trois jours...'
With regard to prorogation, it had existed as a law-term in French
from the Middle Ages, and eighteenth-century dictionaries quote such
expressions as prorogation de grace, prorogation d'enquete, prorogation de
compromis, prorogation de juridiction. Proroger was also a law-term.
But Miege in 1687 already gives the new meaning: ' to prorogue the
parliament, proroger le parlement, le renvoyer a une autre fin ; proroga-
tion, prorogation, renvoi, as the prorogation of Parliament, la prorogation
du parlement...' Better still, in 1688, he inserts in the French-English
part of his dictionary the Fr. prorogation and proroger and quotes as
instances of their use : la prorogation du parlement d' Angleterre, proroger
le parlement d' Angleterre. We read in the index to the fifth volume of
the translation of Clarendon, published in 1709: 'Leur parlement est
proroge jusqu'au mois d'Octobre.' Under the heading prorogation, the
Dictionnaire de Trevoux (1771) says : ' En parlant des affaires d' Angleterre
on appelle prorogation du parlement, Fordre que le roi donne d'inter-
rompre les seances du parlement pour ne recommencer qu'a un certain
jour ' ; and at proroger : 'On dit aussi en Angleterre que le roi a proroge
son parlement pour dire qu'il a remis les seances a une autre saison1'
(Diet, de I'Acad., 4th ed., 1762).
Miege in 1687 translates the parliament is dissolved by le parlement
est casse and the dissolution of parliament by la cassation du parlement.
In the translation of Clarendon, i (1704), 5, casser is used and in the
index we find cassation du troisieme parlement. But in the index to
volume vi (1709) we have le parlement est dissipe and il est dissous en
1 Cf. Linguet, Annales politiqtLes, civiles et littdraires, 15 vols, 1777-83, vi, 177, note:
' Proroger en ce sens (jour de la prorogation de cette compagnie) est un mot anglais que
nous avons adopts ; parrai nous, la prorogation d'un commandement, d'une assemblee en
indique la continuation ; et chez nos voisins la fin, la cloture. '
PAUL BARBIER 143
fevrier 1655, and again une amnistie pour tout ce qui setoit passe dans la
dissolution de ce parlement. Other words used at various times are
separer and rompre. In 1729 Boyer translates to dissolve the parliament
by casser ou dissoudre le parlement. But the dictionaries published in
France in the eighteenth century in no case insert dissoudre and disso-
lution in their parliamentary sense. And in the parliamentary sense
ajourner and ajournernent, dissoudre and dissolution, proroger and proro-
gation are anglicisms ; their Latin or French origin, their French form,
their adaptation to the expression of French parliamentary life, account
for the fact that the English origin tends to be obscured. It is curious
to see how they straggled into French official dictionaries at quite
different times, and it is important to note that although they were
originally parliamentary terms, these words have subsequently gained
further ground; ajourner has now got the general sense of put of:
ajourner une discussion, une affaire, une entreprise.
And many other words crept in during the course of the eighteenth
century. M. Bonnaffe has very properly included the word session.
Prof. Brunot in his preface expresses surprise : ' Malgre le Dictionnaire
General et les autres, il est possible que session, malgr6 sa physionomie
latine, nous soit venu d'Angleterre.' And yet nothing is more certain
than that session in the sense of ' sitting of parliament ' is an anglicism.
The O.F. session need not trouble us here. The first sense in which
session was inserted in a French dictionary was that of ' sitting of an
ecclesiastical council'; it will be found in the second volume of Richelet's
dictionary published in 1679 at Geneva, and Richelet had found it in
the works of Patru (1604 — 1681 ). M. Bonnatfe has discovered an isolated
instance of session as an anglicism in 1657 in Du Gard, Nouvelles ordi-
naires de Londres, p. 1410: 'Les assises ou sessions ordinaires s'etant
tenues a Old Baily.' But he has not found session in the sense of 'sitting
of parliament ' until 1 765 when it was used in the Encyclopedic. The
reason is that Miege and the rest used seance ; but even in the parlia-
mentary sense session is found in Clarendon, Hist, des guerres civiles
d'Angleterre, vi (1709), 433: 'Cromwell... les remercia de leur bonne
correspondance pendant la derniere session...' And in tllfe 1798 edition
of the Dictionnaire de I'Acaddmie we read : ' Le parlement d'Angleterre
a une session tous les ans.'
The words convention, conventionnel gained notoriety during the French
Revolution. Now the name of the Convention Nationale was undoubtedly
due to the influence of the Convention parliament of 1688 reinforced by
that of the American Constitutional Convention of 1787. In 1709 we
144 Loan-words from English in 18 th Century French
already find in Clarendon, Hist des guerres civiles d'Angl, v, 437 : 'Un
memoire qu'elle leur avoit presente comme le modele d'un nouveau
gouvernement qui etoit appele la convention du peuple' :, cf. also vi, 739 :
la Convention as the name of the parliament of 1660 ; and in 1729 Boyer
in his dictionary has : ' Convention s. (or publick meeting). Assemblee des
etats; en parlant des affaires d'Angleterre on peut se servir du mot de con-
vention/ and again : ' Conventioner s. Membre d'une assemblee des estats.'*
The Dictionnaire General recognized that majorite, minorite in the
sense of 'the greater number/ 'the smaller number,' were anglicisms, but
wrongly wrote down minorite as a nineteenth-century neologism.
M. Bonnaffe does not include either of these remarks in his book. Their
new meanings became usual during the Revolution, instances of 1793
will be found in Bossange's 1828 edition of the Debates of the National
Convention, iii, 11 etc. (majorite}, 57 etc. (minorite). The earliest instance
of majorit^ I know is still the one found in a letter of Voltaire to
D'Alembert of July 21, 1760, and given in Littre. The word is probably
older. The first instance of the English majority in the sense required
is given in the N.E.D. as 1691 ; but earlier instances are in Locke's Of
Civil Government, in Works, ed. 1824, iv, 395 : ' by the will and deter-
mination of the majority' and passim. It would not surprise me that
Locke himself furnished the source from which the new sense of the Fr.
majorite was ultimately derived.
And while we are speaking of Locke, whose influence in eighteenth-
century France was so marked, we may turn our attention to chapter xii
of the tract Of Civil Government, entitled : 'Of the legislative, executive
and federative power of the commonwealth.' The French adjectives
corresponding to those of this title have been accepted officially by the
Dictionnaire de I' Academic in the following order: legislatif in 1718,
federatifin 1798, executif in 1835. The reasons for this curious order of
admission are not far to seek. The Dictionnaire General has found the
Fr. legislatif in the fourteenth century in the works of Oresme, it would
be more to the point for our purpose, but also more difficult, to quote an
instance of the sixteenth and particularly of the seventeenth century. It
is certainly unknown to such lexicographers as Cotgrave and Miege.
But the following texts show its use between the first (1694) and the
second (1718) editions of the Diet, de V Academic- :
1700. Nouv. de la Republ. des Lettres, Sept., p. 262 : * Que le pouvoir legislatif
raporteroit 1'execution des lois au magistral...'
1706. Barbeyrac, Le Droit de la Nature et des Gens (translated from Pufendorf)
ii, 231 : 'La souverainete, en tant qu'elle prescrit des regies generates pour la
conduite de la vie civile s'appelle pouvoir le'gislatif...'
PAULBARBIER 145
On the other hand, Miege in 1687 translates legislative power by 'pouvoir
de faire des loix.' Turning now to federatif, we find that it was used by
Montesquieu in the Esprit des Lois (1748) in republique federative,
constitution federative. Lastly the idea of executive power is expressed by
Barbeyrac in 1706 by pouvoir coactif, pouvoir executeur, puissance
executrice, and the last expression is invariably used by Montesquieu in
1748. It was Rousseau who, in the Contrat Social of 1761, criticized Mon-
tesquieu's use of puissance executrice (see Political Works, ed. Vaughan,
i, 499, note) and adopted for himself pouvoir executif, puissance executive.
The English word legislature is quoted by the N.E.D. from 1676.
I had suggested in the Revue de philologie francaise, xxvii (1913), 255,
that the Fr. legislature is borrowed from it. I then gave two instances
of its use, one, of 1787, from Delolme's Constitution de I'Angleterre and
one, of 1789, from Mirabeau's Commerce des etats americains (a transla-
tion from Lord Sheffield). I can now quote two of 1745 from the Lettres
d'un Francois of 1'abbe Le Blanc, said to have been written in England
between 1737 and 1744: 'Un gouvernement mixte, compose du mo-
narchique, de 1'aristocratique et du democratique de fa$on que chaque
partie de la legislature se reponde et se contrebalance mutuellement' (i,
131). 'Parce qu'ils (les non-conformistes) voyent a regret les eveques par-
tager avec les grands du royaume une partie de la legislature' (ii, 279).
Here also must be added the political use of constitution (Miege in
1687 translates 'the constitution of the government' by la disposition
du gouvernement), constitutional (1775 Beaumarchais, CEuvres, ed. 1809,
iv, 455: 'formes constitutionnelles '), constitutionnellement, inconstitu-
tionnel (1778 Linguet, Ann. etc. iii, 500 : 'demande illegale, et selori
1'idiome breton, inconstitutionnelle '), inconstitutionnellement (1783
Linguet, Ann. etc. xv, 22).
It is not possible here to examine the whole of the French vocabu-
lary of this class. Let it suffice to say that not only jury, but jure,
'juryman' (from 1687 Miege), the technical sense of message, such
parliamentary words as commission, debat, motion, opposition, the adj.
representatif in gouvernement representatif (the subst. representatif in
the sense of representant also occurs in the eighteenth century), the
political sense of influence :
1780. Linguet, Ann. polit., civ. et litt., ix, 38 : 'Une majorite invincible et la
triomphante influence qui sera toujours le vrai ressort de ce qui s'appelle repub-
lique.'
and influencer :
1787. Delolme, Constitution de VAngL, ii, 16 n. : ' Appele a 1'ordre comme voulant
influencer le debat.'
M. L. R. XVI.
10
146 Loan-words from English in '18th Century French
1792. Necker, Pouvoir executif, ii, 205 : ' On introduit chaque jour de nouveaux
verbes : inftuencer, utiliser.3
1793. Debats de la Conv. Nat., ed. Bossange, 1828, iv, 322 : ' Influence!*
it i i s , O 7
lassemblee.'
1798. Accepted by the Academy —
the word ordre in a I' ordre, rappeler d I'ordre, ordre du jour (see above
the extract from Delolme) and many others are to be traced back to
English use. Whole phrases like rappeler d I'ordre or prendre en con-
sideration were definitely naturalized in the assemblies of the Revolu-
tion ; such expressions as droits de Vhomme :
1748. Burlamaqui, Princ. du droit naturel, i, 104 : ' Fondement general des
droits de Phomme.'
and majeste da peuple became common. Of the latter the following
instances will be found interesting :
1745. [Abb£ Le Blanc], Lettres d'un Francois, ii, 352 : ' Lorsque Cromwell relevoit
la majeste du peuple anglois, il le tenoit dans les fers.'
1774. Grosley, Londres, i, 92 : ' II fut traite en hornme qui auroit attente & la
majeste du peuple anglois.'
1783. Raynal, Hist, philosophique et politique...des Europeens dans les Indes, x,
263 : * Ce sont les Anglois qui ont dit les premiers, la majeste du peuple, et ce seul
inot consacre une langue.'
Nor should it be forgotten that the refugees were interested in
English history: that Miege's Estat present de I'Angleterre (1702) and
still more Rapin de Thoyras' Histoire d'Angleterre (1724) were among
the books which contributed most to make England known and under-
stood on the Continent in the first half of the eighteenth century. In
the works of the refugee pamphleteers, journalists and translators we
find chancelier de Udchiquier, statut de pre>nnnire, haissier d la verge
noire, juge d'assise, commission d'oyer et de ter miner, ship-money and a
host of other expressions which came from England. And it seems to
me that M. Bonnaffe, who has taken to his bosom whig and tory and
even cromwellien, cromwelliste and cromwellisme, might have made room
for historical words like heptarchie, cavalier, tite ronde, parlement crou-
pion,chambre etoilee, covenant and covenantaire,protecteur, lord protecteur
and protectorat, habeas corpus, Jacobite, pretendant and many others.
These words are no more obsolete in French than they are in English.
By the nature of the case, the refugees of 1685 interested them-
selves in English religious life ; and by the enormous polemical and
journalistic literature they were responsible for, they helped to intro-
duce new religious terms into the French vocabulary. The words
papiste and papisme had been used to a limited extent by the Huguenots
in the sixteenth century but neither of them is noted by Cotgrave
(1611); on the other hand, I find papiste in J. de la Montaigne, La Voye
PAUL BAItBIER 147
Seure (transl. in 1645 from the English of Humfrey Linde), p. 157 and
passim, and romaniste in his Voye Asseuree (fcransl. likewise from Linde
in 1645), p. 297. Certain it is that papiste and papisme had a great
recrudescence of favour after 1685 and were useful to the eighteenth-
century philosophes ; the use of papistique is to be noted :
1704. Clarendon, Hist, des guerres civ. d'Angl., ii, 70 : ' Bannir des eglises
d'Angleterre, les eV§ques, et le livre des communes prieres, comme impies et
papistiques...'
1708. Nouvelles de la Republ. des Lettres, Janvier, p. 21 : ' Est-il fort e"tonnant
que dans 1'espace de pres de deux siecles, trois ou quatre docteurs se soient un pen
ecartez, et ayerit insere dans leurs livres quelques dogmes papistiques, generalement
condamnez par tous les autres?'
1771. Diet, de Treooux quotes formulaire papistique from Bayle.
1780. Linguet, Ann. polit., civ. et litte'raires, ix, 88 : ' L'invasion papistique pour
me servir de leur terme' (des Anglais).
1801. Mercier, Neologie, ii, 166 :' idolatrie papistique.'
One cannot help suspecting even the word catholicisme. The
Dictionnaire General found it for the first time in Voltaire's Lettres sur
les Anglais (1734): 'Toutes les sectes d'Angleterre... sont reunies contre
le catholicisme, leur ennemi commun.' The word occurs, however, in
the Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres of February 1687, p. 129:
* C'est aller contre la regie commune du catholicisme...' in a review of
a catholic work on transubstantiation published in London in 1686 for
Jean Cailloue1. Certainly Miege (1687) and Boyer (1729) translate the
Engl. Catholicism by the Fr. catholicite which had been in use from the
end of the sixteenth century. As the Engl. Catholicism, was relatively
recent, it is difficult to be sure of one's ground and it is better to await
for further text evidence which may help to decide2.
Of religious words, M. Bonnaffe includes :
(1) quaker of which he gives an early instance of 1657 from Du
Gard, Nouv. ord. de Londres, ii, 1453 ; special articles might be devoted
to the equivalent trembleur and the later ami', (2) quakerisme, quoted
from 1755, but already in 1701 in the Nouv. de la Rep. des Lettres, Mai,
p. 584: 'abjurer le quakerisme'; (3) non-conformiste, quoted from 1688,
but already in Miege (1687) ; (4) dissenter, quoted from 1702, but also
in Miege (1687).
But the following are omitted : *
(1) conformiste, conformite, non-conformite (all in Miege, 1687);
(2) puritain (Miege, 1687); puritanisme (Did. Gen., 1691); (3) presby-
terien, independant, brouniste, barrouiste, separatiste (all in [Nicole], Les
1 Two isolated instances of catJiolicisme are to be found in Marnix de Ste Oldegonde, Des
diffe'rents de la religion, ed. Quinet, e.g., i, p. 232: ' La conversion du roy au catholicisme.'
2 Cf. in a letter of Congreve dated Jan. 16, 1715, translated in (Euvres de Pope, ed.
1754, iv, 349 : ' Avec mon catholicisme et ma poesie...'
10—2
148 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
pretenduz reformez convaincus de schisme (1684), p. 613) ; (4) presby-
terianisme, independantisme (1708 Nouv. de la Republ. des Lettres,,
Janv., p. 613) ; (5) robinsonien, latitudinaire, leveller, ranter, etc. Nor
is it true to say that these words are obsolete or that their use in
French is not continuous. The fact that, with the limited means at my
disposal, I can quote the following instances of one of the rarest of them
will convince M. Bonnaffe who very properly relies on written texts for
his proofs :
1687. Miege : 'ranter, a sect so-called. C'est le nom d'une secte, proche parente
de celle qu'on nomme the family of love.''
1708. Nouv. de la Republ. des Lettres, Janvier, p. 13 : 'II parle entr'autres d'une
certaine secte, sortie du sein des Independants et appelee la secte des ranters.'
1797. Barclay, Apologie de la vraie religion chretienne, transl. by E. P. Bridel,
p. 270 : 'Certainement cela approche de tres pres le blaspheme horrible des ranteurs
ou libertins qui assurent qu'il n'y a point de difference entre le bien et le mal...'
1830-1. W. Scott, (Euvres, trad, par Defauconpret, ed. 1839, xx ( Woodstock},
p. 57 : 'Que sont les mugglemans, les ranters, les brounistes? Des sectaires.'
1860. E. D. Forgues, Originaux et beaux-esprits de VAngleterre contemporaine,
ii, 221 : 'Bulwer a decoche plus d'une epigramine aceree centre les ranters, les-
canters de la vieille Angleterre.'
Not only are such expressions as livre des communes prieres and
conventicule de non-conformistes common with the refugees, but there
occur in Miege (1687) and in the literature of religious controversy of
the time words like ubiquitaire (already used in the sixteenth century),
ubiquite (1st ex. of 1812 in the Diet. Gen.) ; millenaire, chiliaste, homme
de la cinquieme monarchic ; preexister and preexistence ; consubstantia-
tion (not found by the Diet. Gen. before 1754); non-resistance (1701
Nouv. de la Republ. des Lettres, p. 464) and many others.
M. Bonnaffe includes as anglicisms pantheisme and pantheiste, and
rightly. But what of theisme and theiste ? The Engl. theist is quoted by
the N.E.D. from 1662 and theism from 1678. The following passage is-
interesting from various points of view :
1705. Nouv. de la Republ. des Lettres, Oct., p. 398: 'M. Leclerc vient de se
servir du mot de theistes dans son septieme tome de la Bibliotheque choisie, pour
signifier ceux qui croyent 1'existence d'un Dieu et pour les opposer aux athees. Je
me suis servi dans quelque endroit de ces Nouvelles du mot de deiste dans le m6me
sens. Ce dernier est frangois depuis longtemps ; mais il a un sens different de celui
que je lui ai donne, ce qui est incommode, et qui peut faire une equivoque. Celui
de theiste est tout nouveau et d'autant plus propre qu'il n'a encore aucune autre
signification. Les Anglois sont beaucoup plus hardis que nous. Us ne font point
de difficult^ de forger des mots nouveaux toutes les fois qu'ils en ont besoin.'
Quite among the most important words which have an English
source, I should place libre-penseur, libre-pensee, liberte de pensee. To
include pudding and pie and omit libre-pensee appears fo me to falsify
the right notion of what English influence on French has been. It is
interesting to observe that the word penseur itself only becomes usua.
PAUL BARBIER 149
in the second half of the eighteenth century ; Gohin, in his Transforma-
tions de la langue frangaise durant la seconde moitie du xviiie siecle
(1903), quotes Dorat for its use as a substantive and Jean Jacques
Rousseau's Confessions for the adjectival use ; it was accepted by the
Academy in 1798 ; one wonders whether it is a reflex of the Engl. thinker
which Boyer in 1729 translates by 'un homme qui pense beaucoup.'
However that may be, the translation or adaptation into French of
freethinker and freethinking evidently caused difficulty. Boyer's article
in 1729 is worth reading and shows how easily the word could take a
favourable or unfavourable meaning :
Freethinker s. (one that thinks freely and judges for himself, in matters of
religion). Celui ou celle qui pense librement, en matiere de religion. 11 se prend
^ '^rdinaire en mauvaise part et alors il signifie un esprit fort, un libertin.
Freethinking s. Libertin age d'esprit, esprit fort ; le contraire de la bigoterie, du
d'ordinaire en mauvaise part et alors il signifie un esprit fort, un libertin.
sprit, esprit fort ; le
fanatisme et de la superstition. M. Toland pretends that freethinking was the
grand principle of the Reformation. M. Toland pretend que 1'esprit fort etoit le
grand principe de la reformation.
In 1860 E. D. Forgues, in his Originaux et beaux esprits de I'Angl.
contemp., tells us that 'Voltaire s'illustrait en rapportant d'Angleterre
les idees des freethinkers.' Voltaire himself says francs-pensans (cf.
franc-macon < Engl. freemason, franc-tenancier < Engl. freeholder) and
his use of this word is noted by Mercier, Neologie (1801), 282. The
equivalent franc-penseur was used right into the nineteenth century.
In his Lettres d'un Francois (1745), 1'abbe Le Blanc says esprit libre (i,
52) and penser librement (ii, 280). Chambaud and Robinet's Dictionary
(1776), ii, 220, translates freethinker by 'Celui ou celle qui pense libre-
ment, penseur libre, esprit fort' and freethinking by 'liberte de penser.'
A periodical which only had three numbers, called Le Libre-penseur,wa,s
published about 1796 by J. G. Locre. The following passage from Beat
de Muralt's Lettres sur les Anglois et les Francois (1725), ed. 1726,
i, 4: 'C'est aussi ce qui leur donne (i.e. aux Anglois) une certaine liberte
de pensees et de sentimens qui ne contribue pas peu au bon sens qu'on
trouve chez eux...' is all the more arresting that the work was probably
written in 1694 or 1695. One may also quote the following: 'La
friponnerie latque des pretendus esprits forts d'Angleterre Q^L Remarques
de Phileleuthere de Leipzig (i.e. Richard Bentley) sur le Discours de la
liberte de penser traduit de I'anglois par N.N. (i.e. Armand de La
Chapelle). Amsterdam, Wetstein, 1738, in 12.' Bentley's Remarks on
the Late discourse of Freethinking (by A. Collins) appeared in English in
1713.
(To be continued.)
LEEDS. PAUL BARBIER.
COUBT MASQUERADES IN SWEDEN IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
II.
I PASS on to a somewhat fuller treatment of the texts themselves.
The following list contains particulars of all the more important ballets
performed in Sweden that attained the distinction of print Only three
are Omitted : a fragment of a ballet performed on Carl XI' s birthday
(November 24) 1662 ; a ballet in four entries introduced into the
dramatisation of Stiernhielm's poem of Hercules, performed in 1669 ;
and a fragmentary Ballet mesle de chants heroiques, of which a Swedish
version also exists, performed on February 6, 1701, as part of the festi-
vities celebrating the victory of Narva. The title of this last piece is
interesting as showing that by this time an attempt was being made
to separate the dances altogether from the spoken parts of the ballet.
Here too we find the first mention of pantomime1. In Ekeblad, Juul, and
other sources we find notices of several pieces which have not come down
to us, and a search through the various collections of the archives and
libraries of Stockholm and Uppsala would almost certainly result in the
discovery of several unprinted MSS. of ballets : the matter has not yet
been deemed worthy of attention by any Swedish writer. One unprinted
piece, entitled Le Ballet de la Diversite de la Fortune, will be found among
the MSS. and early printed editions in the Palmskiold collection of the
University Library of Uppsala2.
LlST OF BALLETS PERFORMED IN SWEDEN3.
_.,, Date and occasion Particulars of
of performance publication
Le Ballet desPlaizirs ? , Jan. 28, 1638. In honour Small 4to, 8 pp.
de la Vie des En- of Maria Eleonora, Stockholm, II.
fans sans Soucy but really to amuse Keyser, 1638.
Christina.
f Le Balet du Cours ? Nov. 30, 1642. Wedding Small 4to, 12 pp.
du Monde of Frederick of Baden [Stockholm, Key-
and Princess Christina ser, 1642.]
Ballet vom Lauff der ? of the Palatinate. Small 4to, 12 pp.
I Welt Stockholm, Key-
ser, 1642.
1 Ljunggren, p. 452. 2 Handskr. Palmsk. 14, pp. 255-6.
3 All the ballets were danced at Stockholm, either in the ballet-hall or in the Rikssal.
F. J, FIELD EN
151
Title
{ Balet des Phantaisies
de ce Temps
Balet, Om tlienna
\ tijdzens fantasier
Le Monde reiovi
Balet, Om Heela
Wardenes Frogd
Boutade('Les Effects
de 1' Amour ')
L'Amour Constant
Les Passions Victori-
euses et Vaincues
Author
? Stiernhielm
? Stiernhielm
Le Sr de Mont-
huchet '
Le Vaincu de Diane Helie Poirier
Die tiberwundene ?
Liebe
Then fangne Cupido G. Stiernhielm
a Naissance de la
Paix
Des Friedens Ge-
burtstag
.Freds-Afl
Les Boutades ou
Proverbes
Helie Poirier
J. Freinshemius
G. Stiernhielm
Date and occasion
of performance
Dec. 8, 1643. Queen
Christina's birthday.
Jan. 1,1645. Christina's
assumption of the
reins of government.
June 28, 1646. No
special occasion.
Sept. 6, 1646. Wedding
of Frederick of Hessen
and Princess Eleonora
of the Palatinate.
April 4, 1649. Before
Christina and the
Queen -Mother. In
honour of Maria Eleo-
nora's recent return
from Germany. New
ballet - hall inaugu-
rated.
Nov. 1 and 11, 1649. In
honour of Maria Eleo-
nora, lately returned
from abroad.
Dec. 8, 1649. Celebrates
the Peace of West-
phalia. Christina's
birthday.
March 3, 1650. Before
the two queens.
Particulars of
publication
4to, 8 pp. [Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1643.]
4to, 8 pp. [Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1643.]
4to, 28pp. [Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1645.]
4to,24pp. [Stock-
holm, Keyser,
]645.]
Large 4to, 10 pp.
[Stockholm, Key-
ser, 1646.1
4to, 20pp. [Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1646.]
Folio, 22 pp. Stock-
holm, J. Jans-
sonius, 1649.
Folio, 22 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1649 (twice).
Folio, 22 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1649.
Folio, 22 pp. Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1649 (and in
editions of S.'s
works from 1668
on).
Folio, 16 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1649.
Folio, 14 pp. [Stock-
Jaolm, Keyser,
1649.]
Folio, 16 pp. Stock-
holm, Keyser,
1649 (and in
editions of S.'s
works).
Folio, 14 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
[1650].
152 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
Title
Le Parnasse Tri-
umphant
Der Triumfierende
Parnass
Parnassus Trium-
phans
Les Liberalitez des
Dieux
La Masquarade des
Vaudeuilles
Ballet beginning
' Mars introduisant
les Chevaliers du
Combat de Bar-
riere'
Le Balet de la
Felicite
Author
G. Stiernhielm
Urbain
Chevreau
Date and occasion
of performance
Jan. 9, 1 65 1 , and repeated
soon afterwards. Ori-
S'nally intended for
hristiua's coronation
(Oct. 1650). Post-
poned to her birthday
(Dec. 8), then to New
Year.
Dec. 8, 1652. Christina's
birthday.
? 1653. No title, place,
or year.
Dec. 8, 1653. Christina's
birthday.
Particulars of
publication
Folio, 24 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1651.
Folio,16pp. [Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1651.]
Folio, 16 pp. Stock-
holm, Janssonius,
1651 (and in
editions of S.'s
works).
Small 4to, 24 pp.
Stockholm, Jans-
sonius, 1652. Re-
printed in part
in Chevreau's
Poesies (Paris,
1656).
Small 4to, 8 pp.
[Stockholm, Jans-
sonius.]
Small 4to, 8 pp.
[Stockholm, Jans-
sonius, 1653.]
in
Den Stoora Genius Erik Lindschold
sonius,1654. Also
Chevreau's
(Paris,
1656), pp. 120 ff.
irlXI's Small 4to, 42 pp.
Stockholm, N.
Urbain Oct. 28 and Nov. 7,1654. Small 4to, 24 pp.
Chevreau Part of the ceremonies Stockholm, Jans-
associated with the
wedding of Carl X
and the coronation of
Queen Hedvig.
Nov. 24, 1669. C
fifteenth birthday.
Wankijff, 1669.
Reprinted in Han-
selli's edition of
the collected
works of E. Lind-
schold, Uppsala,
1864.
The first two pieces in the list need not detain us long. They belong
to a period when the ballet had not yet become fully acclimatized at the
Swedish court, and are of the commonest French pattern, consisting
simply of a series of disconnected entries. Le Ballet des Plaizirs de
la Vie des Enfans sans Soucy is said to have been performed ' avec grand
con ten tern ent de tout le monde qui le regardoint (sic\).' Among these
spectators was Christina, then twelve years old. The piece consists
of thirteen short entries in verse, and there is no grand ballet. The
characters of the entries are: (1) Les Volontaires aux Dames. (2) Les
Mores preneurs de Tabak. (3) Le Joueur. (4) La courtizane double.
P. J. FIELDEN 153
(5) Le Capitaine Suedois. (6) L'Espagnon. (7) Le Joueur (each time
represented by Antoine de Beaulieu). (8) Les Bergers. (9) Les Chasseurs
(Prince Carl and Magnus de la Gardie). (10) Les Satires. (11) Le Mercure.
(12) Les Nymphes. (13) Les protecteurs des Nymphes. The Ballet du
Cours du Monde seems to be intended as a kind of general panorama of
life. The persons include : The Genius of the fountain, Amazons, old
men in love, witches, the old men rejuvenated, an Italian guitar-player,
Jason carrying off the Golden Fleece, representatives of various nations
(a very favourite form of entry), the gods giving life to the five dead
nations, etc., etc., eighteen entries in all, with a grand ballet at the end
addressed to the queen, to the newly- married pair, and to the ladies in
general. This ballet was danced in the Rikssal, in which special galleries
were built for the occasion. They were not constructed solidly enough,
however, and the one containing the musicians came down during the
performance. The State had to pay one Anders Kirchhof, a musician,
the sum of thirty daler wherewith to replace a flddle broken in the fall.
The musicians were dressed in taffeta, half lemon-yellow and half blue
(the Swedish colours)1.
The Balet des Phantaisies de ce Temps marks no advance in con-
struction, but some of the entries are interesting. There are fourteen of
these, and a grand ballet. The ballet is opened by Le Postilion (the
name of the character is omitted in S.2), who flies everywhere to carry
the news that the Queen of the North will become the greatest of
sovereigns. Next come Le Cabarettier avec sa femme, sa servante, et son
valet (cp. Shirley, Triumph of Peace). The inn-keeper remarks that
Rhenish wine is dear now, but on the day when some young prince wins
the love of their queen he will let a fountain of it flow (and treat every-
body— S.). Entries 3-6 are of the Cook ( Jonson, Neptune's Triumph), the
Beggars (Shirley), the Merchant, and the Inconstant Lover with four
Nymphs. The seventh entry is of Les Sauuages ( Willmdnne — S.). They
are driven out of their woods by love, and come to see if the ladies
are also subject to his attacks (and can help them — S.). It is interesting
to note this reappearance of the c wodewose ' of the earlier masquerades.
The famous Ballet des Ardents (1392) was really a dance'of 'wild men3,'
and they frequently occur in the English disguisings4. Entries 8-10 and
1 Slottsbok and Rantekammarebok for 1642, quoted by Jacobsson and Gronstedt.
2 Where more than one text exists, S. — the Swedish, F. = the French, and G. = the
German version.
3 Lacroix, i, Introd., p. xi.
4 Eeyher, pp. 2 f.; Brotanek, p. 3; E. K. Chambers, The Medieval Stage, i, p. 185
(footnote).
154 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
12-14 are not remarkable, but the eleventh is rather curious. The French
title is Les Espiegles, and the whole entry runs
Quand nous voulons nous diuertir,
Nous faisons des tours de souplesse
Dont Mercure auec sa finesse
Ne scauroit pas se garentir.
The Swedish has four lines to much the same effect, but the entry
is headed Uhr Speglarna, which Ljunggren takes to be a distortion
or mistranslation of the German Eulenspiegel (cp. the ' Howleglass '
of Jonson's Fortunate Isles}. The grand ballet of this piece celebrates
the fair day when Lucina presided at Christina's birth, and promises that
it shall always be commemorated, sometimes with dances, sometimes
with tourneys — a promise which was very faithfully kept.
In Le Monde reiovi there is more unity and the whole piece is much
more elaborate. The ballet represents ' the joy of the whole world *
at the happy beginning of Christina's reign.
There are three parts (twenty-four entries + grand ballet}, with a prose description
of the contents of each. Part I describes 'la resjouissance du ciel,' part II 'la
resjouissance de la mer,' and part III 'la resjouissance de la terre.' The characters
of I and II are mythological : III has more variety arid interest. The scene changes
back to earth, and two Neivsmongers proclaim that Her Majesty has assumed the
government. A Frenchman, an Englishman, and a Dutchman as allies of Sweden
rejoice at the news. The Englishman comes out of a sweetmeat- shop, and says that
he is more glad to receive this news than he would be at a present of ' un pot de
confitures.' The Swedish text here adds four lines to the effect that though Elizabeth
ruled England well and prospered in all she undertook, she will now be eclipsed by
Christina. Pan incites the inhabitants of woods and fields to rejoice. Shepherds and
shepherdesses and Diana come and do so. This is a somewhat lengthy entry, and a
rather pretty scene is conjured up. Diana's nymphs relate how one day, when they
had been hunting and had been outstripped by their mistress, they sounded their
horns for her and a figure approached which at first they took for Diana, but which
on a closer examination proved to be more like Bellona. (Needless to say, it was
actually Christina.) Four slaves, representing princes oppressed by Germany, rejoice
at the prospect of regaining their liberty and former glory. Two Spaniards, repre-
senting Christina's enemies, are driven off by two brave soldiers (a Frenchman and
a Swede). A lame soldier exhorts his comrades to shed their blood for the queen.
Flattery tries to insinuate herself into the court, but Time brings in Truth and
prevents her. Finally Union comes to strengthen and sustain the power of the
queen, and this is signified by the entrance of quatre Mipartis, French and Swedish,
professing inviolable friendship. . The grand ballet flatters the queen, and concludes
with the remark that in order to give future kings to Sweden :
Avec nostre Amazone il faut un Alexandra.
For this piece Jacobsson suggests an Italian original, II Giubelo del cielo
e della terra, danced at Turin in 1624. The political references are
worthy of note, but otherwise the speeches are often prosy and dull,
especially in the Swedish version. Both this ballet and the Balet om
thenna tijdzens fantasier have been assigned to Stiernhielm, but —
F. J. FIELDEN 155
although a foreigner must necessarily pronounce with hesitation on such
matters — the general style and treatment hardly seem to be worthy
of the author of Denfdngne Cupido.
Les Effects de I' Amour is a commonplace piece of no special interest.
It has ten entries, all representing the various effects of love, and a
grand ballet aux Dames. L' Amour Constant, on the other hand, has
considerable dramatic unity and not a few felicities of expression. It is
a wedding ballet, and tells the tale of Ulysses and Penelope in dance
and recitative. An introductory speech of Love is succeeded by the follow-
ing entries : — (2) Mars et Bellone, incitans Ulysse a la guerre. (3) Minerve
promettant sa faveur d Ulysse. (4) Ulysse navigeant. (5) Aeole com-
mandant aux vents defavoriser Ulysse. (6) Ulysse en naufrage, se sauvant
d la nage. (7) La Renommee commandant d trois Muses de publier la
mort d' Ulysse. The scene now changes to Ithaca : — (8) Penelope, ou
I' Amant fidele, avec ses compagnes en deuil, croyant qu' Ulysse soit mort.
(9) Les Rivaux ou Poursuivans, faisans la cour d Penelope. (ItyL'Envie
faisant tout son possible de divertir Penelope de V affection d' Ulysse.
(11) L' 'Amant yvrogne. (12) Les serviteurs fideles attendans et desirans la
venue d'Ulysse, leur Maitre. (13) Ulysse se vangeant de ses Rivaux, qu'il
passe tous au fil de I'epee. (14) La Constance, ou Penelope, persistant
en I' amour d'Ulysse. (15) La Victoire, ou Ulysse triomphant de tous ses
travaux. In the grand ballet Ulysses tells the cavaliers how the crown
of love is attained. Let them dare much and fear nothing,
Et si le destin vous envie
Le bien que justement il vous devroit dormer,
Sachez qu'on doit abandoimer
Pour une illustre mort, une commune vie.
A concluding speech of La Renommee aux Dames contains an exhorta-
tion to Christina to marry. The same wish is expressed in the conclusion
of the grand ballet of Les Passions Victorieuses et Vaincues, which has
fifteen entries, including some stanzas for music, representing the
disastrous effects of unbridled passion (love, ambition, vanity, etc.) upon
various famous characters of mythology, history, and romance. One of
the entries is represented by Les chevaliers de la trisfy figure et des
miroirs, avec Panca et Nasutus leurs Escuyers, with which may be com-
pared the elaborate Entree en France de Don Quichot de la Manche1, and
the entry of the Windmill, fantastic Knight, and Squire in Shirley's
Triumph of Peace. Les Boutades ou Proverbes has ten entries in prose,
which are simply collections of proverbs and proverbial sayings. The
1 Lacroix, in, pp. 59 ff. The date is given as 'between 1616 and 1625.'
156 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
grand ballet in this case elaborates that comparison of the sovereign
with the sun which we so often find in the Jacobean masque1.
We come now to Stiernhielm's three ballets, all composed during the
period 1649-51, when he was Antiquarius Regni and Gustos Archivi in
Stockholm, Stiernhielm seems to have had few relations with the
foreigners at the court, and probably he felt a little out of place there.
Born in 1598, and educated chiefly in Germany, he early distinguished
himself by his marked intellectual ability. From 1630-49, with some
intervals, he was living in Livonia, where he filled the post of assessor
to the hofrdtt (Court of Appeal) of Dorpat under the Swedish Governor-
General of the Baltic Provinces. He returned to Dorpat in 1651, but
had to flee soon after the outbreak of the Polish war (1655). In 1667 he
was made Director of the College of Antiquities in Stockholm, with a
special commission to continue his linguistic researches. In September,
1669, he applied for membership of the Royal Society of London, and
was elected in December. He died in April, 1672. His works include
treatises on politics and public law, philosophy, matters of linguistic and
antiquarian research, mechanics, mathematics, and astronomy, besides
his poetry (Latin and Swedish). As a poet Stiernhielm's greatest service
to Swedish literature lay in his purification of the language from foreign
(especially German) words, and in his introduction and skilful manipulation
of classical metres. In the opinion of some good judges Stiernhielm's
hexameters are still among the finest examples of that species of verse
in Swedish. His best poem, Hercules, first printed in 1658, is composed
entirely in this metre.
As will be seen, there are three versions of the ballet known in
Swedish as Den fangne Cupido (lit. ' The Captured Cupid '). Of the
three the Swedish is undoubtedly the best, though to Poirier, the author
of the original French version, must be given the credit for the plan and
invention of the whole. The piece is entirely mythological and is con-
structed with very considerable unity. The different entries show,
especially in the Swedish version, an astonishing variety of metre and
facility of versification, which can unfortunately not be represented at
all in translation. The substance of the ballet is as follows :
Entry (1) Cupid boasts of his power over land, earth, and sea, and threatens
those rebellious hearts that will not acknowledge it. (2) Diana enters with her
Nymphs, congratulates herself on having a heart that is not subject to Cupid's
wiles, and advises the nymphs to flee him, which they promise to do :
1 Jonson: Blackness, Beauty, Oberon, News from the New World, Love Freed, Love
Restored, Irish, Vision of Delight. So also the Masque of Flowers, Campion (Hayes], and
Chapman's masque.
F. J. FIELDEN 157
Baste rad kan thet vara, then som troo vil,
At vij jungfrur ryma Cupido platzen,
Han sir ilia och arg som een hook ibland the
Meenlose dufvor1.
This last poetic touch is Stiernhielm's addition. (3) Venus urges her son not to
spare Diana. Cupid promises that Diana shall soon feel the torments of love. There
are considerable additions here in S. Venus relates how Cupid's power is felt by
all the gods save Diana. The gods are merely enumerated in F. and G., but in S.
there are descriptions (especially of Neptune's power) in majestic and vivid hexa-
meters, with a happy use of the Homeric epithet. Both F. and G. also are without
the spirited address to Diana in the second person that closes S. (4) All the World
complains of the tyranny of Cupid. (5) A long entry, with dialogue and action.
Apollo comes to visit Diana, and she asks him to explain the meaning of the laurel
wreath he has around his brows. He tells the story of his unhappy love for Daphne,
prophesies that the laurel will for all time to come be a symbol of wisdom and
victory, and utters compliments about the sovereign who is one day to plant it by
' lovely Malar's shores.' Meanwhile Cupid, who has been watching his opportunity,
fixes an arrow to his bow and is just about to shoot at Diana when she catches sight
of him, and with the help of Apollo clips his wings and takes from him his bow,
arrows, and quiver. At his request, however, she gives him a silver shield as a
protection against his many foes2. (6) fame publishes the news. (7) All the World
rejoices at Diana's victory. (8) Cupid is now proud to be Diana's captive, sets her
image in his shield, and lovingly addresses it in three very charming Sapphic stanzas.
He is interrupted by two satyrs, who take from him his shield. (9) Bacchus tells
how he has punished the satyrs and recovered the shield. (10) Venus complains
that her son has betrayed her and gone over to her enemy, and sends her nymph
Doris to steal the shield. (11) Cupid, missing his shield, comes in distracted. — This
entry has become famous, and is in S. a very successful representation of madness.
F. and G. make Cupid talk mere gibberish, but Stiernhielm, with a deeper psycho-
logical as well as a truer artistic instinct, makes him first rave at the satyrs arid
then confuse the sound of the music with the barking of Cerberus, whom he imagines
to be pursuing him. (12) Venus applies to Aesculapius, who gives her a drug to
restore Cupid. (13) Pallas comes to Diana on Cupid's behalf, and Diana promises
to grant him her grace and favour if he will always remain submissive. - The grand
ballet has two sets of verses in honour of the Queen-Mother.
Considerable ingenuity of construction is shown throughout the piece,
and not least in the combined flattery of Christina and Maria Eleonora.
Compared with the other two versions, Stiernhielm's is decidedly the
1 ' The best plan would be, if one would think it, that we virgins should leave the field
to Cupid. He is cruel and spiteful as a hawk among the innocent doves.'
2 Cupid's verses here are of much grace and beauty :
Jag ar tin fange,
Tin ofvervundne,
Tin underlagde
Tral och tieniste-svan.
Tins ogons stralar,
Tins skonheets klarheet,
Tin hoge anda
Och tin himmelske glantz
Ha kranckt min frijheet,
Mit hierta sargat,
Och bant mit sinne
Under tianstbarheets ook.
' I am thy captive, thy vanquished foe, thy subject, thrall, and servant. The beams of
thine eyes, thy beauty's brightness, thy proud spirit and divine glory have broken my
freedom, torn my heart, and bent my mind 'neath the yoke of obedience.'
158 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
most imaginative and poetical, and his versification and vocabulary are
by far the most rich and varied. He manages with equal facility
hexameters, elegiacs, and sapphics, anacreontic, trochaic, dactylic, iambic,
and other measures.
Freds- Afl is much more loosely constructed. The ballet celebrates the
conclusion of the peace, and Christina is honoured in the person of Pallas,
through whose influence the power of Mars is checked. There are
nineteen entries and a grand ballet, the characters of the entries being
mythological figures or soldiers and peasants from actual life, who either
rejoice at or bewail the war. Among the figures may be noted Panic
Terror, crippled soldiers, the four elements (cp. Campion, Squires
Masque), the three Graces, and. Janus. The treatment on the whole
is lighter in the original French version than in the Swedish. The
speeches are shorter than in Den fangne Cupido, and though some,
notably the verses of Mars in the first entry and of Panic Terror in
the third, are vivid and forceful enough, the ballet on the whole is not
so poetical as its predecessor. The basis of historical events is noteworthy.
There is nothing veiled or allegorical in the topical references, as is
sometimes the case in the English masque: the allusions are immediately
patent.
Parnassus Triumphans seems to have been the most elaborate and
costly of all the ballets. It is divided into three ' openings ' of ten
entries each (including the grand ballet). The French version contains,
in addition to a detailed programme and a list of the dancers, verses by
Apollo and by Fame and a concluding sonnet, all in honour of the
queen. These features are absent in G. and S., so that the ballet
was almost certainly performed and originally written in French. The
first part shows the flourishing empire of the Muses, the second their
defeat and destruction in a 'time of war and unrest, the third their
restoration by means of the victories, the peace treaty, and the happy
coronation of the majesty of Sweden. The most interesting features of
the piece are the mechanical devices, the characters of some of the
entries, and the manner in which Stiernhielm adapts his French original.
Most of the entries are short — some consist of only four lines — and
there are several grotesque entries of the common French type. Among
the characters are an Indian and a Persian (cp. Davenant, Temple of
Love)', a watchmaker, a painter, a musician, a Druid and four wood-
nymphs (Shirley and Davenant in general) ; a Castilian poet afraid
of his own shadow ; the Muses and the Graces ; Homer, Pindar, Virgil,
and Horace (the idea is similar to that in Jonson's Golden Age Restored) ;
F. J. FIELDEN 159
the Seven Sages of Greece ; the four quarters of the world (Campion,
Squires' Masque). The scenery represents the Mount of Parnassus with
the well of Hippocrene and the nine Muses. When, at the close of the
tenth entry in part I, Apollo had sung in honour of the queen, the rock
on which he stood burst open, and six shepherds with lutes ran out and
sang. At the end of the piece Aurora and the Muses stepped down from
the sky and took up Virtue from among the crowd of her adorers
(cp. the end of many masques), and all Parnassus was lit up. The
seventh entry of part I and the sixth of part III are typical of the
difference between Stiernhielm's treatment and that of the author of
the French text. In the French the watchmaker, painter, and musician
of the earlier entry and the printer, herbalist, and mathematician of the
later (printer, star-gazer, and doctor in S.) address themselves to the
ladies in the usual gallant style of the French ballet, whereas Stiernhielm
makes them utter general moral precepts suggested by their various
callings and showing how nothing can be done in any art without the
patronage of the Muses.
Stiernhielm's ballets therefore show an independent treatment as
well as gifts of poetic imagination and a skilful command of verse, and
lead us to regret that the only poet of undoubted genius who wrote for
the court entertainments in Sweden did not stay to develop the ballet
upon the lines of his first and most successful effort.
The next piece on the list, Chevreau's Les Liberalitez des Dieux, was
also very elaborate and costly. The accounts preserved of the pre-
parations for the ballet and of its performance are more interesting than
the piece itself. It consists of fifteen entries and a grand ballet, all in
verse. The verses throughout are neat, but there is no originality
in design or treatment. Most of the characters of the entries are
mythological deities who come to offer Christina gifts or to praise or
bless her in various ways. In the eighth entry, however, we have an
example of national grotesques. These are ' trois demons craints en
Suede/ which Ekeblad describes in a letter of December 15, 1652.
' A week ago,' he writes, ' the ballet was danced, and such a concourse of
all kinds of people was present that there was nothing life such a crowd
even at the Coronation. Her Majesty and the Queen-Mother had the
greatest difficulty in getting in. In the ballet were represented the
bounties of the gods, and all who danced were in the habits of the
gods ; the three spectres (spoken) here mentioned, namely the Ghost, the
Neckan, and the Brownie (tomtegubben), were also handsomely presented,
and complained that they had been driven by Her Majesty into Lap-
160 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
land, where they were obliged to live in great distress. The Ghost
was represented by an atrociously tall, dark fellow, quite twice as tall as
the Polyphemus was in Count Magnus' upptag at the Coronation. The
Neckan was shaped1 like a dog or a cat, with a long tail, and the
Brownie was a tiny little fellow, so small that one could hardly see
anything more of him than his hat and his feet ; it was quite comical
to see2.'
The two ballets for 1653 may be passed over. The introductory
recit to La Masquarade des Vaudeuilles, however, is of interest as
supporting the statement made above that the Frenchmen at Christina's
court probably brought some of their ballets with them ready-made.
It consists of three stanzas, of which the first two are :
Que person ne
Ne s'e'tonne
De nous voir quiter Paris.
C'est pour divertir Christine,
'Cete Princesse divine,
Que nous 1'avons entrepris.
Nostre bande
Est assez grande;
Nous amenons avec nous
Les plus fameus Vaudeuilles,
Qui dispos et bien agilles
S'en vont danser devant Vous.
Some details of Chevreau's second ballet, Le Balet de la Felicite,
have been given above. As already mentioned, there were three parts,
the first comprising 'tous les sens,' the second 'les premiers biens
de la Nature,' the third ' les principaux biens de Tame et de la fortune.'
An Italian original for this ballet has been found, viz. La nave della
felicitd, performed at Turin in 16283. In some particulars it also bears
close resemblance to three French pieces, G. Colletet's Effects de la
Nature, with its continuation the Ballet des Cinq Sens de Nature, 16324,
and the Ballet de la Felicite sur le sujet de Vheureuse naissance de
Monseigneur le Dauphin, 16345. From the last piece some hints for
La Naissance de la Paix (Stiernhielm's Freds- Afi) seem also to have been
taken. The characters of Chevreau's piece (seventeen entries + grand
ballet) are again mythological and allegorical ; he does not favour
grotesques.
The stormy times of Carl X left little opportunity for any elaborate
court ballets, and after the Balet de la Felicite we find only tilts during
1 Or 'disguised.' The reading is either formerad or formummad.
2 Letters, i, p. 205. 3 Jacobsson, p. 82.
4 Lacroix, iv, pp. 191 ff. 5 Ibid., v, pp. 229 ff.
F. J. FIELDEN 161
his reign. But during the Regency and under Carl XI the ballet and
other dramatic performances flourished once more. The last piece on
our list, Lindschold's Den Stoora Genius (Le grand Genie), is a long and
elaborate affair, and is the only Swedish ballet of any length for which
there is no French original. Erik Lindschold (1634-90) was one of the
ablest statesmen of Carl XI. After his education at Uppsala and travels
on the Continent he occupied various State posts under Carl X and
was a favourite of the queen, Hedvig Eleonora. For her he wrote his
ballet, as well as numerous pieces d' occasion, and he was the soul of all
the festivities and amusements of the court. His political career began
when Carl XI took the government into his own hands in 1672. Though
filling the post of secretary to the Cabinet, only, he was in reality the
first minister of the king, his great ability and wonderful powers of
oratory giving him an overwhelming influence. Lindschold was a states-
man with ideals and aims that looked far beyond his time, and as a
patron of scholars and writers he did even more for literature than
by his own not inconsiderable productions.
Den Stoora Genius is a somewhat heavy allegorical and moral piece,
designed to instruct the youthful king and flatter his mother Hedvig
Eleonora. It is divided into four parts corresponding to the four divisions
of human life — childhood, youth, manhood, old age — and has five entries
in each part1. Though the ballet is far from being as graceful and
poetic as Den fangne Cupido, and the construction becomes extremely
loose towards the end, the speeches are often good and are usually much
more to the point than is the case in the French ballets.
The four parts are called * openings.' The entries of I, Uenfence, point to the
hopes that may be based upon the young king's childhood. (1) Mercury comes as
the messenger of the gods to open the performance and proclaim His Majesty's
birthday. (2) Flora and four Zephyrs enter to bring in the spring. (3) The king's
good Genius brings with him VAme Noble and VAdresse, and delivers a speech of
twenty-eight lines about a good king's qualities and duties. (4) Hope with four
Gipsies. The gipsies vaunt their trade. Hope replies that a king's fame rests not
on idle prophecies but on his virtues and noble deeds. (5) Momus, Scaramouche,
and Trivelin mock the gipsies. In II, Lajeunesse, the king's education is allegorically
represented. (1) Hebe, with the three Hours, sings verses in honour of the king's
'true Hebe and guide of youth' (Queen Hedvig). (2) A hunter and .two wild men
praise hunting as a training for youth, but the wild men serve as a yarning against
the abuse of it. (3) Six Basques, the descendants of the ancient Goths, reproach the
French dandies for their effeminacy. These lines have a good deal of satiric force.
(4) In the choice between Pallas, Juno, and Venus the king decides for Pallas.
(5) A blind 'man and two cripples show that the mind can become blind and deformed
as well as the body. Ill, Dage viril. (1) Mars, with a troop of ancient Goths
(i.e. Swedes), whom he exhorts to show courage in war. (2) The choice of Hercules.
(3) Two sailors. (4) Fame, proclaiming Carl's praises. (5) Diana and four nymphs,
1 Swedish throughout, but the titles of the four parts and the names of some characters
are given in French also.
M.L.B.XYI. 11
162 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
with the usual praises of life in the woods. The connection here is not easy to
follow, but the idea of the third and fifth entries seems to be to exhort the king,
when he grows up, to protect and favour all trades and professions, such as navi-
gation, agriculture, etc. IV, La vieillesse. (1) Janus relates his history, and
reproaches those who have neglected his counsel. (2) La felicite praises the king,
and two soldiers and two miners introduce a little comic relief by describing how they
are going to enjoy themselves at court. (3) A very long entry. The god Consus
(Neptunus Terrestris] brings in Reason and Judgement, Reason has been held to be
opposed to Love, but Consus has reconciled them and has won over Judgement,
Reason's brother. A long monologue by Reason follows, giving and answering
(sometimes with considerable wit and point) the various arguments of those who
say that Love is opposed to Reason. (4) Bacchus and four peasants. (5) Two satyrs.
The grand ballet is of Mars, Apollo, and Hercules, with four Virtues and their
corresponding Vices. It will be observed that in the last division all attempt at
a logical connexion is abandoned. If this piece was performed as it is printed, the
dances must have been considerably over-weighted — perhaps not to the satisfaction
of everyone — by the excellent moral counsels given.
III.
The ballets were not by any means the only diversions of Christina's
court. Not to mention the numerous tilts, tourneys, hunts, bear-baitings,
displays of fireworks, and banquets that took place, there were three
other types of entertainment bordering on the dramatic — the bergerie,
the vdrdskap, and the upptag — about which a few words may be said in
conclusion.
The bergerie or Schdferei, which originated in Germany after the
Thirty Years' War, is found in Denmark under Fredrik III (1648-70),
and in Sweden under Christina. It was a kind of pastoral play performed
in the open air, often by royal and aristocratic personages, with dances
of shepherds and shepherdesses and elaborate costumes. A masquerade
of this kind performed by the city of Uppsala in 1679 at a visit of
Queen Ulrica Eleonora, the Queen-Dowager Hedvig, and little Prince
Carl (afterwards Carl XII) and his sister bears much resemblance to the
Elizabethan ' Entertainment.' The royal guests were welcomed by shep-
herds, shepherdesses, and four nymphs (students, professors' daughters,
and ladies of the city), and after a song of welcome they were conducted
to a banquet, while the shepherds and shepherdesses drove their flocks
and herds over the lawns. Finally all assembled in the garden round a
wooden stage, where eight dancers in Roman costume gave a performance
before their Majesties1.
The vdrdskap corresponds to the German Wirthschaft and the French
hdtellerie. It was a kind of masquerade in which one or more couples
represented the host and hostess and the others were their guests. The
earliest known example in Sweden was performed on Twelfth Night,
1 Ljunggren, pp. 414 if.
F. J. FIELDEN 163
1653, and represented 'how all the gods were entertained by shepherds
and shepherdesses1.' The queen and Prince Adolphus and all the people
of the court were dressed in shepherds' costumes. The dance lasted till
seven o'clock next morning, and towards the end the masquerading
disguises were taken off, and the queen had the jewels cut out of her
dress and distributed among those present as a memento of the occasion2.
The masquerade of April 8, 1654, described by Whitelocke, to which
reference has already been made, was a vdrdskap. Whitelocke calls it a
1 masque.' ' There were no speeches nor songs,' he says, ' men acting
men's parts, and women the women's, with variety of representations
and dances. The whole design was to show the vanity and folly of
all professions and worldly things, lively represented by the exact pro-
perties and mute actions, genteelly, without the least offence or scandal.'
The queen herself danced in two entries, first as a Moorish lady, and
then as a citizen's wife3.
The upptag were more elaborate and more popular. They were a
kind of pageant resembling the processions of masquers in such masques
as Shirley's Triumph of Peace or Chapman's Masque of the Middle
Temple and Lincoln's Inn, but were always followed in Sweden by a tilt,
at the close of which the procession returned by torchlight to the palace
or other starting-point, and there supped and danced. The procession
was composed of trumpeters, marshals, etc., followed by the tilters
dressed to represent mythological and allegorical characters, and often
included uncommon animals, such as camels and elephants, as well as
numbers of led horses. A 'cartel' issued the day before, or earlier,
explained the device, to which everything in the procession bore some
more or less close relation. This ' cartel ' was read aloud when the
procession reached the lists, and verses were often recited to the queen
and her ladies. .Afterwards the opponents came in, and the tilt began.
The upptag therefore bears some resemblance to the English ' Bar-
riers4.' Accounts of several are preserved, but the most famous were the
four performed on different days in connexion with Christina's coronation
in October, 1650. For two of these there is a Swedish text (' cartel ' and
rough programme), in each case by Stiernhielm. A bri£f account of
the first of the two, held on October 24, 1650, may be given as typical of
this species of masquerade.
1 Ekeblad, i, p. 216.
2 The same thing was done in England. See Eeyher, pp. 421 f.
3 Whitelocke, n, pp. 110 ff .
4 Several French ballets include a tilt, e.g. the Ballet de la Foire Saint-Germain, and
the Ballet du Courtisan, 1612, the subject of which is exactly that of Jonson's Challenge
at Tilt. See Lacroix, passim.
11—2
164 Court Masquerades in Sweden in the 17 th Century
There is a French text as well as the Swedish, the former alone containing
verses for the characters. The ' cartel ' however is the same in both versions. The
piece is entitled Lycksalighetens Ahrepracht (La Pompe de la Felicite), and the idea
of the ' cartel ' is that true happiness is not to be found either in war or in love, but
in virtue, amity, and concord. On the side of Happiness are Eudemon and his two
friends Philander and Dorisel, Apollo and the Muses, and a train of knights with
led horses, who had previously followed war, but now confess that all human
happiness consists in honouring Virtue, Concord, and Peace. Opposed to them are
Mars and his followers, including Philopater, Democrates, and Theander (defending
war for one's country, for liberty, and for religion, respectively), and also Love and
Venus, who try to turn these servants of Mars to their own ranks, saying that pain,
tyranny, and opportunities for courage exist in their army too, but without bloodshed.
The printed texts are divided into five parts, called intrdde ('entries') in the
Swedish, appareils in the French. According to these, Mars and his knights
appeared first. Then followed Love and Venus, drawn in a triumphal car moving
of its own accord and guided by Fortune, who stood on a large blue globe at the
back of the car. Three nymphs accompanying them made ' a concert of instruments.'
Happiness appeared in the third part of the procession, introduced by her three
knights Eudemon, Philander, and Dorisel. She was borne in a sumptuous car
driven by Peace, and was surrounded by Concord and other virtues, including four
children representing Charity. The fourth part represented V'Applaudissement, in
which Apollo and the Muses came to praise Christina. The procession ended with
a row of led horses magnificently caparisoned. Silfverstolpe describes it in detail
from a large contemporary painting preserved in the Royal Library, Stockholm.
The court ballets performed in Sweden therefore afford another
illustration of the great vogue of this type of amusement in the seven-
teenth century. Though the ballet undoubtedly originated in Italy,
it was the French rather than the Italian model that was adopted
all over Europe. Ballets of the French type were performed in Spain, in
Germany, and in Denmark, as well as in Sweden, arid the French
influence on the Caroline masque in England is obvious, although only
one case of direct borrowing can be discovered1. Under Charles I and
his French queen the English court was for a time completely gallicised,
and many French plays were performed there2. The disconnected entries
of the masques of Shirley and Davenant, as well as their grotesque
characters, and even some characters in earlier pieces, e.g. the tooth-drawer
and other figures in Jonson's Pans Anniversary, point unmistakably to
the French ballet.
Yet granting the French origin and authorship of the ballets danced
at the Swedish court, it seems to me fairly probable that the English
masques, those of Jonson, Shirley, and Davenant more particularly, were
not without having some influence upon them. Attention has been
called above to the similarity between many of the characters appearing
in the masque and in the Swedish ballet, and other instances could
be added. Too much stress, however, should not be laid upon this point,
1 Nos. 1 — 8 and 10 of the receipts of Vandergoose in Davenant' s Salmacida Spolia are
translated, with a few small alterations, from those of the « operateurs ' of the Ballet de la
Foire Saint-Germain, 1607. • 2 Brotanek, p. 285.
F. J. FIELDEN 165
as the characters in question are usually more or less stock figures
of the ballet, and may easily have been derived from France independently
in each case. But the greater unity of the ballets performed in Sweden,
and especially the greater prominence given to a dramatic or semi-
dramatic element, seem to suggest that Beaulieu had profited by his
stay in England to see some of the court masques then in vogue, and took
hints from them for the productions for which he was responsible.
Certainly the later Caroline masques are not remarkable for their unity
of construction, but even in the most loosely constructed of them there
is considerably more unity than in most of the French ballets. It is also
quite likely that some at least of the Frenchmen who had been attached
to the court of Henrietta Maria and had fled from the tyranny of the
Commonwealth, were afterwards attracted by the reports they heard of
the brilliant court of Sweden, and came over to seek their fortunes
there. An examination of material not accessible to me would probably
throw light upon this question of cross-influences.
There are signs that in our day the long-lost art of dancing is in
a fair way to being recovered. In that case, it is perhaps not too much
to hope that some revival of the masque may one day be attempted
in England, for it is a form well worth reviving and could be adapted to
modern tastes. Any comparison of the French ballet or its derivatives
with the English masque cannot fail to bring out the superiority of
the latter as an artistic form, and Jonson's masterpieces have still not
received the attention they deserve. Apart from their grace, their wit
and polish, and their finished art, the masques are interesting because in
structure they are in a direct line of descent from the earlier English
drama. The mythological characters in them are often only virtues
or vices in disguise, and Jonson's creation of the antimasque — a most
important development in form — gave the whole piece an antithetical
and allegorical structure which goes back to the morality plays. And in
whatever country court masquerades are found, the student of them
can hardly help feeling a certain interest — even though a somewhat
melancholy one — in the pageant of youth and wealth and beauty that
passed so brilliantly and is gone. The courtiers of a by-gone age seem
to us so young, so childish almost, in their whole-hearted abandonment
to their pleasures. Yet we, in our more sophisticated age, cannot afford
to despise them, for
We are all masquers sometimes1.
F. J. FlELDEN
LUND, 1920.
1 Jonson, Love Restored.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
NOTES ON 'THE SEVEN SAGES.'
In Campbell's edition of The Seven Sages of Rome (1907), we find a
score of a- words in rimes which belong to the Northern dialect and ex-
clude the use of Midland forms with open o. Campbell discusses the
Northern forms, and says that the derivatives of a rime 41 times with
an a having some other origin. His list omits several words with
Northern a assured by the rimes : hale 37, lardes 143, slas 26, slane 53,
thraw 31, wate 761. It contains many rimes that might have been
transposed from Midland forms with o. Thus for lare ' ware, the first
rime-pair in Campbell's list (p. Ixxiii), we can write Midland lore 'wore ;
such rimes prove no more than two' go (1) and twa ' ga (12). One of the
rimes in Campbell's list, smate 'pat (44), seems to involve a scribal
mistake. It occurs in the dialogue that introduces the fift tale :
'...it was sene for sertayne
of him ]>at with his son was slayn :
]>e son j>e fader hevid of smate.'
'Dame,' he said, 'what was he >at?'
As Campbell remarks in his note, pat apparently lacks sense and syntax ;
but the puzzle is hardly solved by his weak conclusion : pat might have
been put in to make out a rime. In the dialogue preceding the sext tale
we find a similar question :
pe Emperoure said : ' What was he ?
pat tale, maister, )x>u most tel me.'
This question may have replaced an older wha was he?', but in any
case it justifies changing was... pat to was... hat, equivalent to Midland
was yhoten*. The text commonly keeps -en in participles; but the
shorter forms occur in rime :
...j>aire bolt es ful sone shot,
titter to ill >an til glide note. (26)
...bad )>am bete him in {>at tide
til blode brast out on ilka side.
He bad, when he was sogat bet,
)>ai sold him hang on a gebet. (36)
1 Numbers refer to pages. I leave out the silent e sometimes written after inflectional
*, and distinguish u and v in accordance with modern usage.
2 Emerson, M.E. Reader (1916), p. 73.
Miscellaneous Notes 167
A similar scribal change of hat (< hatari) to fiat may be assumed in the
couplet
And t>ou will mak him >at >ine ajfre
]>at es obout ay j>e to payre. (80)
Here Campbell would leave out pat — thereby putting stresses on the
weak words and, will, him.
EDWIN H. TUTTLE.
NORTH HAVEN, CONN., U.S.A.
THE STONYHURST PAGEANTS.
It is not surprising that Dr Greg, in his review1 of the Stony hurst
Pageants, should feel some misgivings about peculiar forms which
appear in the printed text of these plays. With regard to the six cases
which he queries, however, I would say that only two are typographical
errors, and these were duly noted in the Corrigenda. The other four
represent the actual readings of the MS. In publishing the text of
these plays my first care was to record the exact reading of the MS.
even when it was obviously wrong. Errors were in some cases corrected,
though never silently. In many other cases — perhaps not altogether
consistently — obvious errors were left uncorrected, for my primary aim
was to present, not a critical text, but a faithful reproduction of the
Stonyhurst MS. The typographical errors recorded in the Corrigenda
(p. 6) are fewer than might have been expected, considering the fact
that the text was set up by printers who did not understand the English
language, and at a time when the sending of proof sheets was in the
highest degree difficult and uncertain.
The Stonyhurst text presents many curiosities which it was im-
possible to discuss within the limits prescribed for the Introduction.
When one notes, for example, the frequent omission of final t from such
words as' eight (x, 26), light (vin, 677), sight (x, 110), brought (xiv, 622,
1435 ; xv, 86), and sought (ix, 74), one is moved to inquire whether
these forms may not have u phonetic basis, though the extraordinary
carelessness of the scribe in omitting letters enforces caution in drawing
any inference. Certainly thath for hath (xiv, 897), thwicefor twice (xiv,
1298), trough for through (ix, 520), threatneh for threatneth (vm, 678),
moyseth for moyses (vm, 806), decrare for declare (xvm, 114), and
dwaw for draw (vm, 109), are to be regarded as scribal slips. Such
forms as pringe for bringe (ix, 286), plagon for flagon (vm, 790), and
frongs for frogs (vm, 421) may at first seem to afford some dialectal
1 Modern Lang. Review, xv, 441.
168 Miscellaneous Notes
clue, but the habits of the scribe give me pause against basing any
conclusion on them, especially as each of these words appears elsewhere
with normal spelling. On the other hand, the repeated occurrence of the
for they (vm, 1312; xvn, 589; xviii, 581, 934) may possibly point to
a slurring of the vowel in this pronoun in colloquial speech.
In Dr Greg's opinion ' the complete lack of the sense of accent ' which
the Stonyhurst playwright displays in handling his metre ' points to a
writer having a more intimate familiarity with French/ But if the
author were ' one to whom English was an acquired language ' we should
surely expect to find some surviving Gallicisms, but of these I can dis-
cover no traces. Nor is it easy to see how a young Frenchman — he must
have been young if he wrote these plays, as Dr Greg believes, as a school
exercise — could have become so well acquainted with the locutions of
Lancashire — or at least of the Northern counties. It is much easier for
me to suppose that they were written by a native of Lancashire who was,
or had been, a student at the English College at Douay. It is interesting
to note in this connexion that considerable attention was devoted at
Douay to the presentation of plays, both Latin and English, as appears
from numerous entries in the Douay Diary.
It is difficult again to accept Dr Greg's suggestion that the sudden
appearance of Plautine influence in the Pageant of Naaman is due to
the fact that the author in the course of his studies came upon the
plays of Plautus for the first time after completing Pageant XVII. The
Pageant of Naaman reveals an acquaintance with classical comedy which
is too extensive and intimate to be the result of a sudden discovery.
First of all, the names of the characters are drawn from a number of
classical plays : Artemona and Leonidas are borrowed from Plautus'
Asinaria ; Sosia and Bromia from Amphitryon ; Phronesium, and prob-
ably Strato, from Truculentus ; Dorio, on the other hand, comes not
from Plautus but from Terence (Phormio). This process of assimilation
and combination appears still more notably in the characters and
situations. While the Pageant of Naaman reproduces types which are
thoroughly familiar in classical comedy, their originals are not to be
found in any one, or even two, of the plays of Plautus or Terence. The
Stonyhurst playwright has drawn suggestions from a number of separate
plays and has combined them to serve his special purpose. And even
when he appropriates a name from Plautus he does not always make
the character correspond to that in the Plautine play: for example,
Phronesium, the Meretrix in Truculentus, reappears in Naaman as the
God-fearing Hebrew maid. In a word, the author in the Pageant of
Miscellaneous Notes 169
Naaman shows himself no less conversant with the characters and
situations of classical comedy than with the traditions of the medieval
religious plays in the other Pageants of his cycle. It seems extremely
unlikely, therefore, that his knowledge of Plautus and Terence was the
result of a new course in his curriculum begun after he had finished the
Pageant of Elias. For that matter, the 13,000 lines of the Stonyhurst
plays — assuming that the cycle extended no further than the point
where the MS. now ends — impress me as a rather large order for a
* school exercise.' If Dr Greg is correct in thus accounting for the
composition of the Stonyhurst cycle, we are left to melancholy reflec-
tions upon the contrast between the standards of industry in the schools
of three centuries ago and those which prevail at present.
In expressing these doubts, I confess that I have no theory of my
own to propose in place of the conclusions reached by Dr Greg. These
plays raise many questions which cannot be answered. It is difficult to
understand why an author acquainted with classical comedy should
have followed religiously the method of the medieval scriptural plays
until he came to Naaman. But it is no less difficult to understand the
complete absence from these 'pageants' of the influence of Elizabe-
than drama, especially when the author reveals, quite incidentally, an
acquaintance with two of the plays of Shakespeare, by naming one of his
characters ' Brabantio ' and by imitating the phrasing of the ' Chorus '
in Henry V.
And now that reference has been made to the 'Chorus' in the
Stonyhurst plays, may I correct a misunderstanding which appears in
Dr Greg's remark that 'the character "Nuncius," which the editor
supposes to mark classical influence, is familiar in the native religious
drama' ? The editor's words were : 'Though the use of the terms "Chorus"
and " Nuncius " might suggest that the appearance of this feature in the
Stonyhurst plays was due to classical dramatic tradition, the function
which is assigned to these characters is not an inheritance from classical
tradition but is rather a survival of the " Doctor " of the older religious
drama.'
CAKLETON*BROWN.
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA,
U.S.A.
'¥ET IF HIS MAJESTY OUR SOVEREIGN LORD.'
In his introduction to More Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Eliza-
bethan Age Mr A. H. Bullen justly called special attention to the poem
which he had discovered in a music manuscript at Christ Church,
170 Miscellaneous Notes
Oxford, beginning fYet if his majesty our sovereign lord.' He sug-
gested at the same time in a footnote to his reprint that in view of
their somewhat abrupt opening the verses might be fragmentary. While
looking recently through a volume of manuscripts in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin (F. 1. 20), containing miscellaneous matter in
various seventeenth-century hands, I found on page 431 a fuller and
possibly complete version of the same poem, with the heading 'In
Aduentu Domn/ though strangely enough the new lines occur after and
not before those already given by Mr Bullen. The first forty-eight lines
(of which Mr Bullen printed thirty) are arranged in stanzas of six lines-
each, the short second and third lines being set in; and these are
followed by two stanzas of six and eight decasyllabic lines respectively.
The following are the thirty-two additional lines :
6
Sweete Jefus, T'was for us, t'was for our sake
That thou our flefh didft take
T'was for our loue alone
That thou defcendeft from thy fathers throne
Thou Coin'ft and knockeft, Open my loue my deere
Wee Crye all's full, there is no lodging here
7
Plotting Ambition and her Trecherous traine
Take up our beating braine
Ith' Chambers of our breft
Malice and falce Confuming Enuy reft
Slander lies in the tongue, And luftfull Riott
Keepes all the liuer for her wanton Diett
8
Sinne takes up all the houfe, this being true
Speake Chriftian, fpeake Jewe
Where is the Difference
Twixt Jewifh fpight, and Christian Reuerence
They cry'd away, ore us he fhall not Raige (read 'Raigne')
We cry Alls full. We cannot Entertaiue
Precat
; i
Nott intertaine thee Lord. Doe not depart
Accept a Widdowes might, A contrite heart
And though I be not worthy thou fhoulft come
Under my roofe, to fanctifie the Roome
Yet I intreat thee, geue me tyme and fpace
He fitt a lodging for thy heauenly grace,
2
Repentance, was my foule, wafh it againe
lett not a marke of any filth remayne
Downe wth thofe Cobwebbs, and Malicious ruft
ffaith, caft thou forth, Prefumptuons and diftruft
Lowlines, aire the fheete, and make the bedd
Meekeneffe, and Hope, lay pillowes for his head
Charitie, blow the fire, So, Now He venter
To finde my Lord, and bidd my Jefus enter,
Miscellaneous Notes 171
The verbal variants from Mr Bullen's text of the first five stanzas
are as follows :
Stanza 2, L 4 there] they Trinity College Dublin
„ 3, 1. 3 in] and TCD
„ 3, 1. 4 candles] Torches TCD
„ 3, 1. 6 in] on TCD
„ 5, 1. 6 in the] in a TCD.
The form ' dazie ' in stanza 3, 1. 2, printed in Mr Bullen's text as * dais/
occurs as ' dazy.'
In the absence of a signature the poem must remain anonymous, but
in connexion with Mr Bullen's suggestion that on grounds of style the
author may have been Henry Vaughan it is interesting to compare
Silex Scintillans, ' Misery,' 11. 25—36, and particularly 11. 32—36 :
Thus wretched I, and most unkind,
Exclude my dear God from my mind,
Exclude him thence, who of that Gel
Would make a Court, should he there dwel.
L. C. MARTIN.
PARIS.
\
BUCKINGHAM'S ADAPTATION OF * JULIUS CAESAR' AND A NOTE
IN THE ' SPECTATOR.'
One of Steele's contributions to the Spectator (no. 300) contains a
fictitious letter in which occurs the following passage : ' [it] called to my
Mind the following four Lines I had read long since in a Prologue to a
Play called Julius Caesar, which has deserved a better Fate. The Verses
are addressed to the little Criticks :
Shew your small Talent, and let that suffice ye ;
But grow not vain upon it, I advise ye.
For every Fop can find out Faults in Plays ;
You'll ne'er arrive at knowing when to Praise.
Many old editors of the Spectator have a footnote saying that the refer-
ence is to Sir William Alexander's Julius Caesar) and the statement has
already deceived one biographer of that dramatist. Alexander's play
was not written to be staged ; nor was it performed during its author's
lifetime. The Prologue cited is clearly in the Restoration manner. If it
were rightly to be associated with Alexander's tragedy, it would imply
an attempt to revive the play for an actual performance on the Restora-
tion stage.
Such revival is inherently improbable, but could only be disproved
by identifying the cited Prologue ; that laborious task has, however, had
its reward. Steele's verses are undoubtedly from the Prologue by the
172 Miscellaneous Notes
Author prefixed to Marcus Brutus, i.e. to the second part of the Duke
of Buckingham's rifacimento of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar : Steele's
version is slightly different, but the identity is beyond doubt.
The discovery, however, leads to another problem, which is not
removed even by a full allowance for deliberate mystification on Steele's
part. Buckingham's two plays (the other part is, of course, his Julius
Caesar) were never staged, although, apparently, considerable and possibly
extended efforts were made to arrange a performance ; and, as is well
known, Pope contributed two odes for choruses in Marcus Brutus. But
when ? In a letter written Sept. 18, 1722, he excuses his refusal to write
a prologue for a play of Broome's, by saying — as if of a recent occur-
rence— ' I have actually refused doing it for the Duke of Buckingham's
play/
When, then, did Buckingham make his adaptations? He died in
1721. The Life, often prefaced to eighteenth-century editions of his
works, vaguely puts the tragedies about the time of the Queen's death
(1714). Mielck (Sh. Jahrbuch, xxiv), but equally vaguely, puts them
even later, 'in the last years of the author's life,' although his sub-
stantial evidence is that use is made in them of Rowe's edition of
Shakespeare (1709), as well as of earlier editions. But since the Pro-
logue was known to Steele in 1712, it would seem that they were
completed before that date. How did Steele know the plays? Why
did he mention them ? How much mystification is there in his words
'I had read long since, etc.'? No edition is known before 1722. Were
they really the work of earlier years ? Was Steele trying to arrange for
a production of them ? The Biographia Dramatica (ed. 1812, II, 352),
under Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, informs the reader that the reason
why Buckingham's adaptations were never staged will be given under his
Marcus Brutus: but the reader looks there in vain. The reference
omitted by the editors of the Biog. Dram, would, however, hardly have
helped us. They most probably had in mind, not an attempted presen-
tation about 1712, but the preparations seventeen years later for a
performance which fell through owing to a strike of the Italians who
were to sing the chorus (cf. The British Theatre (1750), the first book of
its kind to include Buckingham, and Gibber, Lives of the Poets (1753)).
But at all events, the play referred to in the Spectator is not Sir
William Alexander's; and further, it is probable that Buckingham's
adaptations of Julius Caesar were made some years before the date
usually given to them.
H. B. CHARLTON.
MANCHESTER.
Miscellaneous Notes 173
LA CHANCTJN DE RAINOART.
It may serve a good purpose, as a supplement to Professor Paul
Studer's recent article containing material for a critical edition of this
text (M.L.R. 1920, pp. 41 ff.), to point out an astonishing error in Dr Tyler's
edition, which apparently has escaped Professor Studer's notice.
Lines 2405-9 in Miss Tyler's edition read :
Napes de lin vei desure getees,
Ces escuiles empliees e rasees,
(De) hanches, (e d')espalles, (de) niueles e (de) oble(i)es.
N'i mangerunt les fiz de Tranches meres,
Qui en 1'Archamp vnt les testes colpees !
Dr Tyler's vocabulary says : rasee = meat-pie 2406. Chimene, qui
1'eut dit ? It would be interesting to have Miss Tyler's translation of this
passage, especially in view of her punctuation and of her emendation of
2407. Of course, rasdes is the past part, of raser and means : remplies
jusquau bord. If the meat-pies are considered indispensable we should
have to read : de rasees.
I propose to punctuate and to read as follows :
Napes de lin vei desure getees ;
Ces escueles empliees e rasees
D'hanches, d'espalles, de riiveles oblees,
N'i mangerunt les fiz de franches meres,
Qui en PArchamp unt les testes colpees.
It will be seen that I have a doubt as to nivele meaning ' puffed-
paste/ as Dr Tyler's vocabulary has it. I should rather regard it as the
feminine plural of the adjective nivel which might mean ' blanc ou leger
comme la neige!
I. N. RAAMSDONK.
HOBART, TASMANIA.
PORTUGUESE AND ITALIAN SONNETS.
Many sixteenth-century poets of the Peninsula, not content with
writing sonnets fectios al italico modo, paraphrased, imitated or trans-
lated existing Italian sonnets. Petrarca was their chief but by no means
their only source. It is well known how imitative was the great genius
of Luis de Camoes, and recently Dr Jose Maria Rodrigues has dealt
exhaustively with the sources of the Lusiads. Those who have read
Pedro de Andrade Caminha's poems in Dr J. Priebsch's edition (in
which Dona Carolina Michaelis de Vasconcellos had a share) know that
many of his sonnets were imitated or paraphrased from those of Petrarca,
and it is evident that a very large number of early Portuguese sonnets
were suggested by older or contemporary Italian poems, although the
174 Miscellaneous Notes
original is not always discovered. The originality of these first Portu-
guese cultivators of the dolce stil nuovo consciously lay in their imitation
— in acclimatising the alien metre and making it fit as smoothly as
possible into its new garb — and not in any originality of thought or
expression. The success of Sade Miranda, Ferreira and Andrade Caminha
in the sonnet form was not very marked, whereas Diogo Bernardez and
Camoes attained a complete mastery over this as over other Italian
forms ; especially, perhaps, over the others — the eclogue and canzone —
since the sonnet's scanty plot of ground has always proved a somewhat
trying ordeal for the natural flow of Portuguese poets. Sa de Miranda's
noble, rugged sonnet 0 sol e grande may have been suggested, as to the
spirit not the words, by Petrarca's sonnet Zefiro torna e 'I bel tempo
rimena. Antonio Ferreira's sonnet on the death of his wife, perhaps the
best that he wrote, Aquele claro sol que me mostrava, is translated
almost word for word from Petrarca's Quel sol che mi mostrava il cammin
destro. The original of the beautiful sonnet written perhaps by Diogo
Bernardez but assigned also to many other poets (see C. Michaelis de
Vasconcellos' Investigacoes sobre sonetose sonetistas Portugueses e castel-
hanos (1910), pp. 45-54) and of which many Portuguese variants exist,
Horas breves de meu content amento, has not yet been discovered. The
foreign sonnets which perhaps most resemble it are Ariosto's Lasso, i
miei giorni lieti and Garci Lasso de la Vega's 0 dulces prendas por mi
mal halladas. (Cf. the lines
Quien me dixera, quando en las pasadas
Horas en tanto bien por vos me via
Que me habiais de ser en algun dia
Con tan grave dolor representadas.)
Camoes' Aquela triste e leda madrugada begins by translating Petrarca :
Quel sempre acerbo ed onorato giorno
Mando si al cor 1' immagine sua viva
Che 'ngegno o stil non fia mai che '1 descriva,
Ma spesso a lui con la memoria torno.
who for his part had translated Virgil :
Jamque dies, ni fallor, adest quern semper acerbum
Semper honoratum (sic dii voluistis) hal
(Aen. v, 49-50.)
Camoes' famous sonnet, one of the most beautiful in literature, Alma
minha gentil que te partiste is practically a translation, but not of a
single poem. Thus we have the first lines of Petrarca's sonnet :
Quest' anitna gentil che si diparte
Anzi tempo chiamata all' altra vita,
Miscellaneous Notes 175
and of his sonnet Anima bella da quel nodo sciolta, and the last lines of
his sonnet Donna che lieta col principio nostro :
Dunque per ammendar la lunga guerra
Per cui dal mondo a te sola mi volsi,
Prega ch' i' venga tosto a star con voi.
Even closer is the resemblance between the opening of Camoes'
sonnet and that of Giovanni Guidiccioni (1500-41):
Spirto gen til, che del piu vago manto
Ch' altro vestisse mai, si altero andasti
Qui fra' mortali, e poi tu mi spogliasti
Acerbo ancbr tornaudo al regno santo;
Se de gli aflanni miei ti calse tanto
Quanto ne gli atti tuoi gik dimostrasti,
Perche cosl per tempo mi lasciasti
Senza te solo in angoscioso pianto ?
Then we have the beginning of the same poet's canzone :
Spirto geutil che ne' tuoi verdi anni
Prendesti verso il ciel 1' ultimo volo
E me lasciasti qui rnisero e solo
A lagrimar i miei piu che i tuoi danni,
Pon dal ciel mente in quanti amari affanni
Sia la mia vita, assai peggio che morte :
Mira qual dura sorte
Vivo mi tien qua giu contro mia voglia
Acci6 ch' io viva eternamente in doglia.
The parallel passages between poems of Camoes and those of the
Italians are unending in number. Nor could it well be otherwise, for
indeed his success in the new metres could not have been so splendid
and immediate had he not been thoroughly steeped in Italian poetry,
and on the other hand all this close acquaintance would, but for his
genius, have availed him as little as it did Sa de Miranda and other
early italianisers.
AUBREY F. G. BELL.
S. JOAO DO ESTORIL, PORTUGAL.
REVIEWS.
The Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary of Old English Poetry,
Parts I and II. By ALBERT REISER. (University of Illinois Studies
in Language and Literature, Vol. v, Nos. 1, 2, February and May
1919.) Urbana, Illinois. 1918. 8vo. 150 pp. Each 75 cts.
Albert Keiser fuhrt einen Arbeitsplan aus, der methodisch von v.
Raumer,Zhe Einwirkung des Christentums aufdie althochdeutscheSprache,
sowie von B. Kahle, Die altnordische Sprache im Dienste des Christentums
vorgezeichnet und in MacGillivray's zu breit geratenem, beinah gleich-
namigem Werk (Halle, 1902) schon ein gutes Stuck gefordert war. In
zwolf Kapiteln gliedert er tibersichtlich das ganze christliche Wort-
material der angelsachsischen Dichtersprache. Die einzelnen Ausdriicke
werden meist auf ihren Ursprung in der lateinischen Kirchensprache
zuruckgefiihrt und, wo es not tut, gelegentlich auch auf ihre Etymologic
bin betrachtet. Angestrebt wird dabei nicht die Anfiihrung samtiicher
Stellen sondern die Aufzeigung der verschiedenen Bedeutungen. So
wird eine Uberlastung mit Stoff glucklich vermieden. Nur wo es sich
um seltenere Ausdriicke handelt, zieht der Verfasser die gesamten
Belege heran. Den Schluss machen iibersichtliche Wortlisten der
specitisch poetischen Ausdrticke, die in der Prosa nicht erscheinen, der
Lehnworte und der Hybriden. Ein ausfiihrlicher Index und zahlreiche
Verweise erleichtern den Gebrauch der Wortsammlung. Im einzelnen
ware zu der saubern und gediegenen Arbeit vielleicht folgendes zu
sagen : Der Satz (S. 22 ff.) dass der Kult der Jungfrau Maria in der
angelsachsischen Literatur stark hervortrete, bedarf der Einschrankung.
Die Beispiele aus dern Crist liberwiegen auffiillig. — (S. 32) Bei der
Dehnbarkeit der Wortbedeutungen in der ags. Dichtersprache und ihrer
eigenwilligen 'poetic diction' wird man schwerlich irgendwelche Schliisse
daraus ziehen diirfen, wenn Cynewulf den Papsfc Eusebius bisceop nennt.
Vielleicht ist ihm papa kein poetisches Wort. — (S. 33) Die beste Erk la-
rung von preost hat wohl Wilhelm Horn gegeben, der es Archiv 138, 62
aus praepositus, vulgarlat. prepostu erklart und das Schwinden des
inlautenden p mit totaler Dissimilation in dem auf der ersten Silbe
betonten Worte begriindet. Vgl. Engl. Stud. 54, 71 Anm. 7.— (S. 59 ff.)
Der Abschnitt liber Wyrd wird den verwickelten Problemen, die dies
Wort aufgibt, nicht ganz gerecht. Auch Alfred Wolf, Die Bezeichnungen
fur Schicksal in der angelsachsischen Dichtersprache, Breslauer Diss.
1919, S. 3 — 45, hat sie nicht vollig geklart, aber doch manchen Aber-
glauben beseitigt. Vgl. schon Klaeber, Anglia 36, S. 171 ff. Jedenfalls
kann man nicht mehr sagen, dass im Beowulf ' Wyrd is generally looked
upon as the goddess of death.' Wenn sich eine gemeinangelsachsische
Reviews 177
Auffassung formulieren lasst, so ist es die, dass Gott die Geschicke
bestimmt. In dem Satze z. B. gl&§ a wyrd swa hw seel steckt durchaus
kein heidnischer Schicksalsglaube. Es heisst : ' Das Schicksal geht im-
mer wie es soil/ d.h. ' es kommt doch stets, wie es kommen soil,' d.h.
aber: 'wie es Gott bestimmt hat.' Deutlich ersieht man den Bedeu-
tungswert von wyrd, wenn es mit einem Wort, das ' Gott ' bedeutet,
variiert wird, wie Beow. 2526. Dass die Bedeutung ' Schicksal ' in 'iibles
Schicksal,' 'Missgeschick,' 'Tod' iibergeht, und dies personificiert ge-
braucht wird, darf noch nicht dazu verleiten, fur wyrd eine Bedeutung
* goddess of death ' anzusetzen. Vgl. fur die ganze Frage Wolf a. a. O. —
(S. 69) Es wtirde zweckmassig Genesis A und B unterschieden sein. —
Durchaus irrefuhrend ist die Feststellung der Schlussbetrachtung
(S. 137 f), dass von den 343 nur in den poetischen Texten vorkommenden
Worten allein 74 nur Cynewulf angehoren, der dadurch in das Licht
eines besondern Sprachschopfers gerat. Sieht man indes naher zu,
so findet man, dass von den 44 ausschliesslich im Crist vorkommenden
Ausdriicken bloss 6 in den sicher Cynewulfischen sogenannten 2. Teil
des Crist gehoren. (S. 137 f.) Es ist sehr schade, dass der Verfasser
gerade diese Seite seiner Aufgabe nicht eingehender behandelt hat :
namlich den Nachweis der individuellen Sprachbildung, wo er mit
einiger Sicherheit zu fiihren ist. Typ : efn-ece — coaeternus. Auch ist
nicht recht ersichtlich, nach welchen Grundsatzen die behandelten
Worte ausgewahlt wurden. Wenn Worte wie fdcenstafas als specinsch
christlich herangezogen werden, wlirde man dann nicht Ausdriicke wie
peos Isene gesceaft zu finden erwarten ? Miisste nicht metudsceaft im
Sinne von ' gottliche Ftigung ' und ' Jenseits ' erortert werden ? Warum
fehlt bei dem Abschnitt ' good works ' die Behandlung von gewyrht in
Fallen wie Dan. 444 = ' Verdienst bei Gott' ? Indes diese Ausstellungen
sollen den Wert der griindlichen Arbeit nicht schmalern.
LEVIN L. SCHUCKING.
BRESLAU.
The Tale Shakespeare. (1) The First Part of King Henry the Sixth.
Edited by TUCKER BROOKE. (2) The Tragedy of Othello the Moor
of Venice. Edited by LAURENCE MASON. New Haven : Yale Uni-
versity Press; London: Humphrey Milford. Oxford University
Press. 1918. Each 4s. Qd.
The Australasian Shakespeare. Shakespeare's Life of Henry the Fifth.
Edited by J. LE GAY BRERETON. Melbourne and Sydney : Lothian
Book Publishing Co. Ltd. 1918. 3s. 6d. •
The two volumes of the Yale Shakespeare will be found very useful
editions for class use, for which purpose they are perhaps better fitted
than for private study. They are provided wUh brief explanatory notes
at the foot of the pages, and longer notes on textual and other diffi-
culties at the end, the student's attention being called to these by
references at the foot of the pages to which they belong. There is no
introduction, but a series of appendices on the Source and History of
M.L.R.XVI. 12
178 Reviews
the Play, the Text of the Present Edition, and suggestions for Collateral
Reading. In the case of Henry VI there is also an appendix on the
authorship which provides a very useful summary of current opinion in
a problem of peculiar difficulty.
The text of these two plays is mainly that of W. J. Craig's Oxford
Shakespeare, with, however, the stage directions of the First Folio, an
interesting innovation in an edition for school purposes. The notes are
sufficient and the appendices include everything that will generally be
required, though of course they are not exhaustive. A useful addition to
Henry VI might have been a brief consecutive sketch of the history of
the period covered. Without this the notes on historical inaccuracies
and anachronisms are decidedly difficult to follow, and though it may
be claimed that a student can obtain what he needs from any ordinary
text-book of history, the chances are against his troubling to do it.
At the beginning of this volume of Henry VI is a ' modified repro-
duction' of an early map, faced by a descriptive paragraph which contains
a darker saying than any in the play. This runs as follows : ' Parallels
of latitude are reckoned eastwardly around the globe from a line in the
Atlantic Ocean about 20 degrees west of Greenwich ; parallels of longi-
tude are as in modern maps.' Perhaps 'latitude' and 'longitude' should
change places, but what are ' parallels of longitude ' anyway ?
The Australasian Shakespeare is described as 'the result of the
combined efforts of the various English Authorities in the different
States of the Commonwealth and New Zealand, to provide sound school
texts, which will meet the requirements of the Examination Boards.'
It is a pity that we have not these requirements before us, for these
might enable us to form a better opinion as to the special features of
this edition of Henry V which adapt it to Australasian use. In their
absence we can only say that it seems to be a good, sensible and work-
manlike edition of the play, with full notes of a rather more elementary
character, especially as regards explanation of phrases, than would
generally be required in this country, but otherwise containing little
that is new. The notes on each scene are prefaced by a brief summary of
the action, in which attention is called to the dramatic purpose of the
scene. This will be very useful to private students, though possibly
some teachers will object to it for class-room work on the ground that all
such points are better brought out in discussion with the students.
R. B. M°KERROW.
LONDON.
Transactions and Report of the Royal Society of Literature of the
United Kingdom. Vol. xxxvn. London: Humphrey Milford. 1919.
8vo. Is.
This volume has a special interest as a record of the success of the
Royal Society of Literature during the last few yearsv in its attempts
to realise more fully than ever heretofore an old ideal of its founders,
and to make it a means of drawing the nations together by the inter-
Reviews 179
change of thought and mutual service. The Report of the Honorary
Foreign Secretary and the Vice-President's Anniversary Address point
to the increasing number of scholars and men of letters which the Society
has attracted to itself from both East and West, and describe inter-
national activities, of which a pleasing example is the material assistance
given to the reconstruction of the Libraries of Serbia.
The papers now printed reflect the aim which has just been indicated.
Two relate to India. Mr A. Yusuf Ali, writing on ' India in the Literary
Renaissance : Modern Indian Poetry,' exhorts his countrymen and the
European world not to neglect the modern literature of the Indian
vernaculars, which, over and above the great results of English influence,
' have their own contribution to make to the progress and development
of the Empire, and to our united consciousness of that larger humanity
which is the hope of a reconstructed world in the twentieth century.'
A short critical estimate of the chief schools of modern Indian poetry
leads to a fuller treatment of the school which neither lives in the past
nor ignores it, but seeks its inspiration in the present and utters the
feelings and aspirations of to-day. Quotations from Tagore and the
Urdu poets Hali and Iqbal give picturesque expression to an enlightened
patriotism.
' Effects of Despotism and Freedom on Literature and Medical Ethics,'
by Sir R. H. Charles, combines the general thesis implied in the title
with study of similarities in ideas probably due to contact between
Greece and India in early ages, and compares the ancient oaths ad-
ministered to Greek and Indian neophytes in medicine respectively
with interesting results.
Mr Gosse treats of ' Some Literary Aspects of France in the War ' ;
and France is again the theme in ' Scotland and France : The Parting
of the Ways,' in which Professor R. S. Rait makes us follow with concern
the fortunes and decay of the Franco-Scottish alliance in the sixteenth
century. Probably, at the present time, even those most interested in
the past will prefer the modern story, told as it is with sympathy and
insight. It includes a sketch of Charles Peguy which must always arrest
those who turn over the pages of this volume, as a moving presentment
of an uncommon personality worthy of remembrance with Gautier's
' me'daillons ' in his Histoire du Romantisme.
With the foregoing, Sir Edward Brabrook's 'Literature and the
State,' and Senor Don Salvador de Madariaga's ' Shelley and Calderon,'
comprise six out of seven papers read before the society during the
session. The former is necessarily selective in material as it covers
much ground, but capriciously selective. Under 'The State as Author,'
Alfred, its noblest link with literature, is to seek, and also Milton, who
appears as a rebel under ' The State as Controller.' The state's extensive
dealings with drama are nowhere mentioned for good or evil, and its
influence ' as Corrupter ' is poorly supported by citing (beside the sus-
picious case of Defoe) the supposed inconsistency of Dryden in welcoming
Charles II, and of Johnson in accepting a pension conferred, as the writer
admits, without corrupt purpose. Mallett's base employment to destroy
12—2
180 Reviews
Byng would have been more to the point. The subject needs a wider
treatment before the scales are suspended. Chaucer's state employment-
took him to Italy, with what results we know. Congreve's wit was not
dulled by emoluments from the Pipe Office and the Customs, or Prior's
lyric gift extinguished by embassies. With the delightful pleasantry of
'Alma : he enlivened his state imprisonment. A printer's error of II for I
perhaps accounts for the appearance of Charles II among Royal versifiers.
In * Shelley and Calderon,' a resemblance between the poets of more
extent than McCarthy noted is traced, and the influence of Calderon upon
Shelley inferred from consideration of Shelley's known studies of the
Spanish poet and a comparison of certain features and particular passages.
The brilliance of this essay, and the moderation with which its conclu-
sions are stated, should disarm even those who do not accept them, and
whose knowledge confers the right to judge, which I do not possess.
A point such as the attribution to Calderon's influence of the symmetrical
architecture of the * Ode to the West Wind ' is not disposed of by the
fact that something similar exists in our earlier literature.
The Professorial Lectures given during the Sessions 1918-9 are
represented by * Poetry and Time,' delivered by Sir Henry Newbolt as
Honorary Professor of Poetry. It treats of questions at once fascinating
and indeterminable with lucidity and suggestiveness, and it would be
hard indeed to better the selection of illustrative passages from the
poets, from Raleigh and Spenser to Rupert Brooke and Masefield, by
which the lecturer has expressed man's haunting sense of exile, his
dreams of pre- existence, his yearning for a better world than this, for
the timeless and eternal. If the relation of Time to Eternity be the
relation of 'illusion to vision, of an inadequate view of reality to an
adequate view/ we are encouraged to hope that the illusion tends to
fade by infinitesimal degrees and the vision to become clearer, and to
look for a new poetry in the future, perhaps not better than the old,
' but such as will help us not so much to lament Time as to forget it,,
and to think of Eternity, not as an infinitely distant and uncertain
inheritance, but as a land to be gradually reclaimed from the wilderness
by our own labour and virtue.' Our minds are thus attuned to find
consolation for their own regrets, and helped to ' come,' like Tagore,
' to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish — no hope, no
happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.'
R. H. CASE.
LIVERPOOL.
COMTE MAURICE DE PANGE. Les Lorrains et la France au Moyen-Age.
Paris: ^douard Champion. 1920. 8vo. xxxii + 196 pp. 15fr.60.
Count Maurice de Pange, who died in 1913, may be said to have
passed his life in the study of his native land, the ' pais de Loherraine/
and the present publication is but the last of a series of works which he
devoted to its history. But it is not merely the history of facts con-
cerning the province which interests him. He endeavours to dive down
Reviews 181
beneath the dry surface of the annals and public records in order to get
at the deep-seated reasons and principles which underlie the attitude of
his native province towards the Empire on the one side and towards
France on the other, particularly during the Middle Ages. The reasons
which made of Lorraine ' un pays frangais ' and which distinguished the
crown of Lorraine from that of ' la Germanie ' in spite of the German
elements which existed in the Northern part of the province; the re-
ligious unity which enabled Lorraine to participate in the life of France
even during its period of detachment and independence ; the wish of
the inhabitants to remain French and their dislike of the Germans as
illustrated in contemporary literature (Eitdes de Deuil, La Chanson de
Hervis de Metz, etc.) ; the spontaneity of their attachment to the cause
of France as illustrated in the national hero Gerard la Truie — -these are
the subjects which occupy the first chapter and which recur continually
in the course of the book.
In chapter n, M. de Pange plunges once more into the much-vexed
question of the provincial origin of Joan of Arc. After many details
concerning the parish to which she belonged, and an excursus in which
he discusses the reasons of the friendly attitude of Champagne towards
England at this epoch, he sums up and refutes the arguments opposed
to the ' origine lorraine' of Joan of Arc, arguments which received an
additional weight from the vanity of the descendants of her family who
sought to disguise and obliterate all trace of their provincial origin.
The second part of the book, ' Les Lorrains dans 1'histoire litteraire
de la France,' is rather disappointing from the literary point of view.
The author points out the epic character of the ' race lorraine ' : ' aux
poesies elegantes, elle preferait les chansons de geste.' Even the women
were animated by the spirit of chevalerie which persisted Jonger in
Lorraine than in any other region in France. But he does not throw
any fresh light on the question of the ' geste lorraine/ which, in spite of
its popularity, never became absorbed into one of the great epic cycles.
In the chapter devoted to Oarin le Lorrain M. de Pange gives a short
account of Philippe de Vigneulle and the origin of his prose version of
the Geste lorraine. As to the Old French ' chanson,' unshaken by recent
researches on the origins of the Chansons de geste in general and Oarin
le Lorrain in particular, he clings tenaciously to the idea of its historical
and contemporary basis, its origin, from a poetical point of view, in
' quelque donnee epique, soit orale, soit ecrite, quelque Cantilene sans
doute, qui celebrait la lutte feroce de Frondin de la foret de Vicogne et
de son ennemi Waning.' 9
A chapter on Gautier d'Epinal establishes the fact that the chan-
sonnier lorrain flourished, not in the twelfth century as stated by Tarbe
and Brakelmann, but in the thirteenth. M. de Pange maintains that
the identification of the Count Philippe, to whom Gautier addresses
one of his- chansons, with Philippe de Flandre who died in 1191, is
erroneous and that the Count in question was probably the poet's friend
Philippe de Bar who flourished in the following century.
The book closes with a short third section devoted to Ferri de Bitche
182 Reviews
and the subject of his succession to the dukedom of Lorraine. M. de
Pange has consulted all the records having reference to the Dukes Simon
and Ferri, and the documents which he publishes on the subject will be
of value to every future historian of his native land.
JESSIE CROSLAND.
LONDON.
French Terminologies in the Making : Studies in conscious Contributions
to the Vocabulary. By HARVEY J. SWANN. New York : Columbia
University Press ; London: H. Milford. 1918. 8vo. viii H- 250 pp.
6s. Qd.
If in 1831 French children had been interested in railways, this is
what they might have read in their primers, opposite the appropriate
illustrations : ' Voici le chemin a ornieres ou le chemin en fer. Regardez
la suite de chariots. D'abord nous voyons la machine a vapeur locomotive;
apres, le chariot d'approvisionnement et puis les autres chariots. Us
roulent sur les ornieres de fer ou les barres. Maintenant ils passent
dans la galerie souterraine ! ' Why do French children to-day read
something quite different ?
An answer is supplied by Dr Swann. Briefly it is this. The railways
largely supplanted the canals and they borrowed from the canal termi-
nology. But while the first practical railway in this country dates from
1815, none was built in France till 1833, so that English names or their
literal translations in French naturally competed with the existing
vocabulary. In this creative period, term after term was tried and re-
jected in favour of others, till in the fulness of time ' le genie de la langue'
was duly placated. Thus ' le char additionnel renfermant la provision
d'eau et de houille/ reported from England in 1826, became in 1830 ' le
chariot d'approvisionnement.' By 1845 some people were calling it ' le
tender' and by 1859 nobody called it anything else. To the eternal
regret of Darmesteter (Creation actuelle, p. 253), the good French word
already existing, namely 'allege,' was strangely ignored. Similarly,
' chemin en fer ' competed with * chemin a fer ' and ' chemin de fer ' (and
a dozen other terms), and who shall say which was grammatically right?
What precisely are the rules which the great French public — guided
not by the Academy, alas, but by the technician and the reporter —
unwittingly observes when suddenly it finds itself constrained to talk
about a thing which yesterday had no name ? Dr Swann answers as
best he may — and no man can expect ever to know exactly the why and
the wherefore, still less the wherefore not — by studying the trial vocabu-
lary not only of the railway, but of the automobile, 1875-95, and of the
science of aeronautics, which was supplied with many of its terms at two
different periods of activity, 1783-1800 and 1865-90.
From such material- things as these he passes to the nomenclature
of the Republican Calendar and inquires why beautiful words like
' Brumaire ' and ' Floreal ' unfortunately fell from grace. He discusses
the terminology of the Metric System, which has been a hardier plant,
Reviews 183
and the words coined, or modified in sense, to express the new-born
ideas, Equality, Liberty, Democracy. His answers to the strange ques-
tions raised are often convincing, generally ingenious, and always based
on a thorough examination of the contemporary documents — newspapers,
reviews, official reports, technical dictionaries and the like. If after
completing this useful work he had only made the slight additional
effort of compiling an Index of Words discussed, he would have enhanced
the value of his book.
R. L. G. RITCHIE.
BIRMINGHAM.
Dantis Alagherii Epistolae. The Letters of Dante. Emended Text with
Introduction, Translation, Notes and Indices, and Appendix on the
Cursus. By PAGET TOYNBEE. Oxford : Clarendon Press. 1920. 8vo.
lvi + 305 pp. 125. 6d.
It is a pleasant duty to congratulate Dr Toynbee on the completion
of a singularly important work of which some of the preliminaries, in a
more or less provisional form, have already appeared in the pages of this
Review. In the present state of uncertainty concerning so much of the
text of Dante, whilst awaiting the National Edition promised by the
Societa Dantesca Italiana, it is perhaps the Letters alone that could
profitably be edited in this fashion, without undue anticipation on the
one hand or the likelihood of being superseded on the other. The critical
edition, when it appears, will presumably give us a text more nearly
representing Dante's orthography (Dr Toynbee has advisedly, and, we
think, on principle, made no attempt to reproduce the mediaeval Latin
spelling), but it is not likely to make many conspicuous changes in the
text that he has constructed or to detract from the permanent value of
his researches. We shall still need his volume as an indispensable com-
panion to its successor. With the solitary exception of the Epistle to
Can Grande (which still presents problems of every kind to be solved),
Dr Toynbee has been able to collate all the known manuscripts of the
Epistolae. His edition indeed is the first conducted on these lines.
A comparison with the Oxford Dante will show how numerous and far-
reaching his emendations and restorations of the text have been, with
results that in the vast majority of cases will certainly command the
general assent of scholars. Noteworthy features of the volume are the
Introduction, dealing in an exhaustive fashion with the whole history
of the Letters, and the Appendix on Dante and the Cursus, indicating
the lines upon which the text of the De Monarchia and the De Vulgari
Eloquentia should similarly be investigated, and bringing the Epistolae
into relation with the main body of mediaeval epistolary correspondence.
The application of the Cursus test has led Dr Toynbee to important
emendations, and has its bearing even upon the question of authenticity.
It is amusing to observe that Scartazzini found arguments for rejecting
the Letter to Cardinal Niccol6 da Prato on the ground of those very
abbreviations in the salutatio which Dr Toynbee shows to be strictly in
accordance with mediaeval rules.
184 Reviews
An interesting point arises in connexion with the passage in the
Letter to the Princes and Peoples of Italy in which Dante exhorts the
Italians to meet the Emperor as their King : ' Evigilate igitur omnes,
et assurgite regi vestro, incolae Latiales, non solum sibi ad imperium,
sed, ut liberi, ad regimen reservati' (Epist. v, 6). Dr Toynbee renders the
last clause : ' as being reserved not only as subjects unto his sovereignty,
but also as free peoples unto his guidance.' Several passages of the
De Monarchia might be cited in support of this interpretation (e.g. i, 12
and 14). Francesco Ercole has argued that the imperium refers to the
Empire, the regimen to the kingdom of Italy, the regnum italicum to be
restored on a more ample scale — which finds some confirmation in the
alternative reading, rengnum for regimen, of the San Pantaleo manuscript.
More recently, E. Pistelli has suggested as a .possible meaning that the
Italians are reserved, not only to form part of the imperium as subjects,
but also as free men to share in the regimen ; that is, to be not only
ruled, but likewise rulers. This would be a notable anticipation of the
'primato morale e civile' (cf. Mon. n, 3), and, in any case, the Letter
as a whole stands as a landmark in the history of the national idea
in Italy.
The commentary shows the rich and careful scholarship which we
expect from Dr Toynbee. Here and there, perhaps, a further classical
reference might have been acceptable. For instance, the phrase Latiale
capat (Epist. vill, 10) was clearly suggested by Lucan, Phars. I, 535.
We notice two trivial slips which seem to have found their way into
current Dante literature. In the sonnet to Cino da Pistoia, lo sono stato
con amore insieme (p. '26), Dr Toynbee prints the ninth line : Perb nel
cerchio della sua balestra. The right reading is palestra ; the ' balestra '
being, we believe, a mere misprint of Fraticelli's, piously reproduced by
the first Oxford editor of the Canzoniere. Again, in Appendix B (p. 223),
it is stated, with a reference to Villani (ix, 121), that Uguccione della
Faggiuola was killed in the defeat of Can Grande before Padua. This
is certainly not borne out by the words of the chronicler: 'Al detto
assedio di Padova morio Uguccione della Faggiuola dentro nella cittade
di Verona di suo male.'
EDMUND G. GARDNER.
MANCHESTER.
Italian Social Customs of the Sixteenth Century and their Influence on
the Literatures of Europe. By THOMAS FREDERICK CRANE. New
Haven: Yale University Press; London: H. Milford. 1920. 8vo.
xv + 689 pp.
The title of this attractive volume — the fifth in the series of Cornell
Studies in English — hardly suggests its contents. It is not a general
study of Italian society during the Renaissance, but an elaborate in-
vestigation of certain forms of entertainment — more particularly the
'parlour-game,' and the 'use of Questions and Story-telling as a social
Reviews 185
observance in Europe' — traced in literature from the time of the Pro-
ven£al troubadours down to the end of the seventeenth century. The
theme has never been treated before with such comprehensive detail,
nor do we know of any other single book that covers the same ground.
As the author rightly insists, ' the polite society of Europe is of French
origin, but profoundly modified by Italy.' He accordingly guides his
readers from the troubadours and their theories of love, the Provengal
tenzon and the French jeu-parti, to the main subject of analogous
developments in Italian literature from Boccaccio to the courtly and
social treatises, the novels and dialogues of the Quattrocento and
Cinquecento. Thence we pass to the influence of this aspect of Italian
life upon France, England, and Germany (treated more slightly), the
whole concluding with a curiously interesting chapter on the imitation
of Italian social observances in Spain during the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries. Some of the Italian works analysed — as, for example,
the Filocolo and the Cortegiano — are familiar enough even to the
general reader ; others — like the Discorsi of Annibale Romei, the Civil
Conversazione of Stefano Guazzo, the Dialogo de Giuochi of Girolamo Bar-
fagli — are probably unknown save to professed students and specialists,
'he last-named work is a typically Sienese contribution to the litera-
ture of the subject. The veglie and trattenimenti at Siena, with their
' giuochi di spirito,' had the same reputation of primacy in their own
field towards the end of the Cinquecento as the representations of
comedies had had at Ferrara at an earlier epoch. 'Nelle vigilie sue la
bella Siena' gave Marino a comparison and standard for the disports of
his nymphs and shepherds in the Adone. '
A few slips and omissions are inevitable in a work on this scale.
Among the useful bibliographical footnotes, we find no reference to
Arnaldo della Torre's important work on the Accademia Platonica of
Florence, or to Henri Hauvette's masterly monograph on Luigi Ala-
manni. Illustrations for society in the south of Italy might have been
drawn from the dialogues and poetry of Pontano. It can hardly be said
that the people of Siena called upon the Emperor Charles V to deliver
them from the despotism of one of their noble families (p. 297). King
Ferdinand I of Naples is confused with his son and successor, Alfonso
(p. 435), and the Marchese del Vasto is described as the 'husband' of
Vittoria Colonna — -who was, of course, the wife of his cousin, the
Marchese di Pescara (p. 177). We are mystified by a statement that
the Hecatommithi of Giovan Battista Giraldi 'was written about the
same time' as the Vita civile of Matteo Palmieri (p. 373)-p-but this, no
doubt, is a mere slip of the pen. For the rest, Professor Crane has given
us a laborious and useful contribution to the knowledge of one of the
minor aspects of social life in the Renaissance.
EDMUND G. GARDNER.
MANCHESTER.
186 Reviews
Four Plays of Gil Vicente. Edited from the editio princeps (1562), with
Translation and Notes. By AUBREY F. G. BELL. Cambridge :
University Press. 1920. 8vo. liii + 98 pp. 20s.
The vitality of Portuguese culture, that will cause it to outlive in
India and China our own contributions to the new civilizations of
Africa and Asia, can be readily realized by reading Mr Bell's translations
of the Auto da Alma of Gil Vicente. No extracts are necessary, for it was
first published in the Modern Language Review and the present version
is substantially the same, though some weak passages have been strength-
ened. The poem, as Mr Bell points out in his interesting introduction, is
a product of the European renaissance which expressed itself in Portugal
in a new spiritual emotion rather than in a new intellectual energy. It
was in a word revivalist rather than rationalist as elsewhere. And in this
play of Gil Vicente the fervour of religious feeling rises to a region rarely
reached even among those who were once the faithful subjects of the
' most faithful' sovereign.
But this is only one side of Gil Vicente — though it is the side
evidently with which Mr Bell is most in sympathy. Gil Vicente is also
the great exponent of the national spirit and character of Portugal. The
Exhortation to War, of which Mr Bell gives us a spirited translation, is
an interesting illustration of the calls to a crusade for Christianity that
eventually cost Portugal not only her imperial possessions but her
national position. Many passages in it read curiously like the patriotic
appeals of a few years ago. In the two other plays here translated,
especially in the Farce of the Carriers and in the Pastoral of the Estrella>
we have living pictures of the national life of this gay and gallant race
in its brilliant and all too brief golden age. Our own Will, whom the
Portuguese Gil so closely and curiously resembles both in career and
capacity, has not given us more entertaining and convincing character
sketches of his countrymen. And it is here that the task of the trans-
lator may become as Chaucer said ca great penaunce' both to himself and
his reader. It is impossible to translate Mistress Quickly or Brigida Vaz.
It is probably for this reason that Mr Bell has not included in these
translations such a play as the Ship of Hell, which shows what will be to
many of his modern readers the most interesting side of Gil Vicente.
We should scarcely gather either from Mr Bell's careful summary of the
little known about him or from the review of his works what a Bolshe-
vist Gil Vicente was. He was not — as Mr Bell correctly points out — a
Lutheran, but he was a tremendous Lollard. He is indeed as superior
to Shakespeare in his philosophy of life as he is inferior to him in lyric
and dramatic poetry. Though Court playwright under the bigoted
absolutism of Manoel the Fortunate, he made himself through his plays
the champion of the poor against the proud, of reason against reaction,
of Christianity against Clericalism. No wonder his plays were put in the
Index as soon as the Spanish occupation and Spanish inquisition put
Portuguese national life to the peine forte et dure. No wonder that this
most spiritual, most national and most radical of Portuguese poets was
Reviews 187
not again disinterred after the restoration of the Braganza despotism.
He was indeed only restored to Portuguese literature early in the last
century by the radical-romantics headed by Almeida Garrett ; and he has
only recovered his pre-eminence since the republican revolution of 1908.
It would perhaps be too much to expect Mr Bell to complete this rehabili-
tation so far as we are concerned by publishing translations of the
Barca do Inferno, but it would be a most beneficial undertaking.
Most new comers to Portuguese literature travel thither by way of the
Lusiads and arrive, if they survive at all, somewhat wearied with that long
long voyage in the highly select company of Portuguese heroes and pagan
deities. They would do better to let Gil Vicente take them to a Shake-
spearian country fair, to a Chaucerian domestic interior on the unexpected
return of a husband from the India Voyage, or to a Shavian argument
between a defunct Don Juan and a debonair devil. They will fall in love
first with Gil and then with Portugal; and they will learn from both much
that will throw a new light on life. For Gil Vicente is Portugal, and
Portugal has the peculiarity of doing very picturesquely what we shall
do rather prosaically some generations or centuries later. Thus the epitaph
Gil wrote for himself, of which Mr Bell regrettably only quotes one line,
might well have been written by Portugal as a warning to us.
For the day of judgement waiting
here I lie in lodging lowly
wearied with life's labours, slowly
recuperating.
All must be laid on this shelf.
Reader, ponder well this pass.
Take me as thy looking glass
and looking on me look to thyself.
LONDON. GEORGE YOUNG.
Deutsche Grammatik. Band V. Teil IV : Wortbildungslehre. Von
HERMANN PAUL. Halle : Max Niemeyer. 1920. 8vo. vi + 142pp.
9 M.
In a pathetic note prefacing this volume — which forms the conclusion
of the Deutsche Grammatik, Professor Paul asks that any deficiencies be
excused on the ground of his failing eyesight. We can assure him that his
right, hand has not lost its cunning and are grateful to his able coadjutors
(Frau Loewenfeld, Paul Gercke and Rudolf Bllimel) for encouraging him
to complete his labours. 0
The ' Wortbildungslehre ' can be rightly appreciated only as a part of
the whole grammar, the scope of which is indicated in the preface to
vol. I. The strength of the work lies in the careful and valuable collec-
tion of linguistic data from the later periods of New High German,
especially the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. WThereas Kluge's
handy Abriss der deutschen Wortbildungslehre shows a certain predilec-
tion for Middle High German and early N.H.G. forms and Wilmann's
elaborate and indispensable study is particularly (though by no means
188 Reviews
exclusively) concerned with the origins of the ' formantia ' in Gothic and
Old High German, Paul's work brings the story down to the modern
period. Each treatise will maintain its place and there is still room
for a competent grammarian to concentrate upon contemporary speech
with a view to estimating the ' expectation of life ' of the formative
elements still surviving. Or it might be feasible to extend the present
work in that direction in the subsequent editions which, we hope, will
be necessary, for Paul himself admits that he could not rest this volume
on such a broad basis as his Syntax. The following suggestions (mainly
additional examples drawn from present-day German) may contain a few
points worthy of adoption ; they are offered as a tribute from one of the
many foreign students of German, to whom Paul's name is a household
word.
In the sections dealing with nominal composition a nook might be
found for forms like polnahe and landfem, whose first constituents stand
in a directional (dat. or abl.) relation to the adjectives. To § 14 — corn-
pounds of substantive + adjective where the former acts as a strengthening
modifier — might be added instancesof adjective modifiers, e.g. heisshungrig ,
bitterbose etc. (or perhaps better after § 16). To the list of adjectives at
the end of § 18 (' nicht zahlreich ') might be appended schmelzflussig
and compounds with pres. part., e.g. gluhendheiss, blendendweiss etc. To
§ 20 — compounds of Vor add Vor abend, Vorkriegszeit (cf. Nachkriegs-
zeit), Vorgeschichte. The 'Bahuvrihi' instances in § 26 might be reinforced
by Storenfried and Luginsland. Among the separable prefixes we miss
zwischen, e.g. in zwischennehmen and sick zwischenklemmen (cf. Wagner,
Grundfragen der allgemeinen Geologic, p. 58). In connexion with the
double usage of the prefixes durch, uber etc. we note a growing tendency
in technical writers to combine uber and unter with adjectives to form
' inseparable ' verbs, cf. ubertieft, uberkaltet, unterkuhlt or even with sub-
stantives durchtalt. To the uninflected composita in § 39 add uberaus,
immerdar, rundiueg.
In Section B (Derivation) it would be unreasonable to expect ex-
haustive word-lists to illustrate such living suffixes as -er and -ung\ it
is therefore better to confine the inevitable addenda to cases of special
interest, in which exhaustiveness appears to have been aimed at. Under
-er § 45 p. 58 add Kundschafter. Additional cases of transition to
' nomina actionis ' on p. 60 are Schnitzer and Spritzer. Among the -ner
forms on p. 61 we miss Kirchner, Plattner (both common as proper
names), Kdtner (a crofter) and Wochnerin, and to -ler on p. 62 add
Finkler, Kompromissler and the neologism Hakenkreuzler. The curious
form Imker from Low German might have been subjoined. To § 48
-ing add Bavarian form Fasching and Low German Helling. As -ling is
so frequently requisitioned by the purists for ' Verdeutschungen,' Paul
deliberately gives but a small selection ; as curiosities we might quote
Sigismund's stages of babyhood, viz. Ldchling, Sehling, Greifling,
Kriechling, Ldiifling, Sprechling ! On p. 67 the jocular Wanzerich
quoted might be capped by Brduterich. In the next section we rather
painfully miss the abstracts fiichte, Diirre, Ode, Schiefe and the adverb-
Reviews 189
derivative Quere (p. 68). The exiguous list of -ung derivatives from
substantives (§ 55 p. 73) might be strengthened by Wandung and Dunen-
talung, both used by the geographer Penck, and the Gewandung of the
sculptor. To the note following § 57 on p. 79 must now be added
Entscheid, which occurs in Volksentscheid in the new German constitution.
A considerable number of examples of the extended -erei are given on
pp. 81 if., but several important ones are omitted, viz. Gaunerei, Hetzerei,
Horcherei, Klatscherei, Liebedienerei, Prasserei, Quacksalberei, Qudlerei,
Schererei, Schleicherei, Schnurrpfeifereien, Schwatzerei, Schwelgerei,
Stdnkerei, Stumperei among others. An additional case of -erei unsup-
ported by any corresponding ' nomen agentis ' is Schurkerei. Again -elei
occurs also in Bummelei, Deutschtumelei, Klugelei, Kunstelei, Lobhudelei,
Pldnkelei, Teufelei. The fertility of -turn § 61 may be gauged by three
additional examples drawn from a single work — Pollitz, Die Psychologie
des Verbrechers, 1908 — viz, Hochstaplertum, Landstreichertum, Vagabun-
dentum1. In § 62 the collective function of -schaft is further illustrated
by Geschworenenschaft, Turnerschaft, Wdhlerschaft&udwe miss Schwan-
ger schaft from the adjective-derivatives in -schaft, as also Eigenheit from
those in -heit on p. 85. The longish list of -heit derivatives from parti-
cipial adjectives omits Befangenheit, Beschrdnkth&it, Besessenheit, Ge-
schicktheit, Gewandtheit, Unbeholfenheit, Unverdrossenheit, and the note on
p. 86 disregards Obliegenheit. Under § 64 it is worthy of note that -isch
also requires -keit, cf. Murrischkeit, and a place might be found for
Fixigkeit.
As to the adjectives the following insertions seem worthy of recom-
mendation:— § 67 -isch, derivatives from substantives in -er, haus-
hdlterisch, qudlerisch and to Anm. 2 on p. 92 add einbildisch (Schiller's
Rduber m, 1) ; § 68 -ig p. 93, where the long list omits blasig, gasig,
markig, schlackig, tonig, wabig ; § 73 add Luckenhaft, namhaft, schrullen-
haft, triebhaft on p. 99, and flegelhaft, gonnerhaft, hunenhaft, jungling-
haft, Idmmerhaft, riesenhaft, trummerhaft on p. 100; -5am, p. 101,
anschmiegsam, unterhaltsam ; § 75 -lich, p. 102 add polizeilich, p. 103
geflissentlich. The adjective doublets (and triplets) in § 77 might be
supplemented by ekel — eklig — ekelhaft, fordersam—fdrderlich, parteilich
—parteiisch, riesig — riesenhaft, wider lich — widrig. In § 78 not only -voll,
but other ' full ' words like -reich, -artig, -formig etc. were worthy of a
" brief notice in their capacity as suffix equivalents. Among the verbs the
only palpable omissions appear to be : — § 84, drdngeln, zischeln, § 85 -igen
in kundigen, verfestigen. The suffix -warts is missing from the ' Inde-
klinabilia.' 0
It is a little regrettable that the author did not see his way, as
Wilmanns and Kluge did, to include sections dealing with such foreign
suffixes as -ik, -tat, -age at any rate in so far as they have shown new
signs of vitality in German hands. Of particular interest would be
German coinages like Germanistik etc. and hybridizations like Zotologie.
Nor have we seen any mention of the neat method of word-building
1 The continued productivity of the corresponding English suffix is evidenced by the
occurrence of negrodom in a recent newspaper review.
190 Revieivs
practised by the German geologist and archaeologist with their Nor-
folkium, Magdalenium etc. or of the specialization of the suffix -ig by the
chemist, e.g. schweflige Sdure (sulphurous acid, against Schwefelsdure,
sulphuric acid). And when shall we see a comprehensive survey of the
difference in function between -al and -ell (real, reell] original etc.)?
Finally a short resume of the results of the investigation, indicating
what ' formantia ' are really alive and vigorous to-day, might conceivably
add further value to a work, which is already so full of interesting details.
W. E. COLLINSON.
LIVERPOOL.
Gottfried Kellers Leben, Briefe und Tagebiicher. Von EMIL ERMA.TINGER.
3 Bande. Stuttgart: J. G. Gotta. 1920. 8vo. Vol. I, xii + 677 pp. ;
Vol. n, 531 pp. ; Vol. in, 602 pp. 67 M. 50.
In recent years a large number of excellent monographs have appeared
on the subject of Gottfried Keller's works. It was hence highly desirable
that Bachtold's biography should be brought up to date. Instead of
leaving his predecessor's work intact and adding copious notes or
appendices, Prof. Ermatinger adopted the course of re-modelling the
whole book, and expanding it to three times its original size. It was
a method fraught with many dangers. Bachtold's work was the standard
life of Keller, written by a man who knew him intimately. It presented
the poet's personality to us from a definite point of view, in a style which
had real literary merit. Rightly recognizing this, Prof. Ermatinger
incorporated the greater part of Bachtold's text in his own work,
thus preserving much masterly criticism and many a felicitous phrase.
Unfortunately the added portions have altered the whole character of
the book. Prof. Ermatinger's main purpose was to investigate Gottfried
Keller's philosophical, religious, and political convictions, and to define
his place in German literature as a novelist and lyric poet. He has
devoted to this task many years of work. However, his canons of literary
criticism are radically different from those of Bachtold. On several
occasions he expressly draws our attention to such differences of opinion,
and once even attacks Bachtold with undue severity (pp. 679 seq.). It is
rather strange that the man who wrote the finest passages in the book
should only be referred to in the third person (' Bachtold erzahlt ' ;
'Bachtold berichtet'; 'nach Bachtold') and that Bachtold's biography
should be included (p. 530) in the work.
Prof. Ermatinger has made a careful study of certain literary and
philosophical questions. He speaks of Hegel and Feuerbach with the
authority of a specialist. But he is not free from the shortcomings of a
mere specialist. He is apt to lose his sense of proportion and become
lost in detail. His lengthy account of Keller's defraudations (635-7) is
excellent local history, but of no interest to a larger public. We do not
want to know the names of every petty demagogue who strove for political
power in 1867. Instead of selecting a few salient traits to characterize
the chief persons with whom Keller came into contact Prof. Ermatinger
Reviews 191
inserts a small biography, which is so evidently an interpolation, and
would be more in its place in an encyclopaedia. There are unnecessary
repetitions (Ursula's bad housekeeping is mentioned three times: pp. 13,
429, 525 ; the friendship with Storm should be dealt with on p. 565,
and not on p. 539).
Prof. Ermatinger's system of classification is too artificial, his analogies
vague or misleading. Thus he elaborates a parallel between the spirit of
the age in 1770 and that of 1840. He contends that both dates mark
a change from rationalism to realism, both in philosophy and literature.
The flaw in the argument is obvious. There was no movement in 1840
which corresponded to the 'Sturm und Drang'; neither ' Jungdeutschland'
nor ' Heimatkunst ' could be thus described. The only resemblance we
can see is of quite a general character ; it might be termed in Bergsonian
phrase : the conflict between creative evolution and tradition or inertia.
This struggle recurs every generation.
The growth of scientific accuracy in nineteenth-century historical
fiction he attributes solely to development of historical science. Alexis,
Hauff, and Scheffel are all characterized, but Scott's name is not even
mentioned. Surely a word might have been added about the rise of
philology. It was Scott and Grimm and not Ranke who made Ekkehard
possible.
It is possible to do full justice to Keller without depreciating other
writers. Prof. Ermatinger treats the 'Miinchener Kreis' very patronizingly
(613 seq.) ; he cannot forgive Morike for being a mere lyric poet (' Die
aktuellen Probleme der Zeit, vor denen Morike sich scheu verkriecht,'
p. 139); and considers it a fault in Holderlin that he was a romanticist
(p. 303). Leuthold, he says, lacks personality (p. 139).
We admire Keller for what he was, rather than for what he was not.
Jt is a mistake to see in him a consistent philosopher. It is hard to
believe that he disapproved of Lange because the latter was not sufficiently
logical and because he committed the grievous error of combining Hegel
and Schleiermacher (p. 308). 'Ein Leben, dern nichts Menschliches fremd
war' scarcely applies to Keller. Nor could we say that Die Leute von
Seldwyla stands ' zwischen Romantik und Realismus und liber beiden.'
If it be true that in Keller's eyes everything that is natural is moral, he
was a very poor philosopher. It is, finally, scarcely credible that Heinrich
Lee's three loves, Anna, Judith, and Dortchen Schonfund were really
inspired by Hegel's thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.
JAMES M. ^CLARK.
GLASGOW. f
The Position of the ' Roode en Witte Roos' in the Saga of King
Richard III. By OSCAR J. CAMPBELL (Univ. of Wisconsin Studies
in Lang, and Lit., v). Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin. 8vo. 169 pp.
50 cents.
In this volume Professor Campbell has not only given us a careful
edition of L. van den Bosch's 'blyeindent treurspel/ but also a prose
translation of it which is entirely reliable. In his Introduction he is
192 Reviews
only concerned with what information the play may supply as to the
development of the dramatic treatment in England of King Richard's
story. That Van den Bosch worked upon an English original, now lost,
indeed, that he followed it very closely, we may assume both on the
ground of what we know of his translating habits and of internal
evidence. The great question is, what date to give to that lost English
play. De Roode en Witte Roos was published in 1651, that is to say in
any case long after the play on which it is founded, for it clearly presents
the type of the chronicle play with a distinct Senecan flavour. At many
points it offers a striking resemblance to Shakespeare's Richard III,
but at other points it follows the chronicles much more closely. Also
there are many striking similarities between the Dutch play and
Thomas Legge's Latin Richardus Tertius, which was written at
Cambridge probably about 1578, but published only in the nineteenth
century. It is mainly in the Senecan passages that the similarities
occur. Lastly Professor Campbell shows that there is ' but one resem-
blance of a large constructive sort ' between Van den Bosch's play and
the True Tragedy of Richard the Third, which first appeared in the
Stationers Register in 1594, but was written probably about 1590.
As Professor Campbell admits, it is impossible from these data
to assign a date with absolute certainty to the lost play upon which Van
den Bosch presumably worked. His hypothesis, however, seems very
plausible. It is that the play was written by some university dramatist
familiar with Thomas Legge's Richardus Tertius and influenced by its
Senecan spirit, while seeking to adapt it to the popular stage. He
probably wrote after the True Tragedy had been written, copying one
effective scene from it. But he wrote before Shakespeare took up the
subject, and the points of resemblance between Shakespeare's Richard
III and De Roode en Witte Roos must be explained by Shakespeare
having used the lost play. If that is so, Van den Bosch's translation
would indeed supply a missing link in the development of the saga of
King Richard III. It would, as Professor Campbell observes, ' help to
explain the strong Senecan flavor of Shakespeare's Richard III, which
has led numerous critics to believe that it must be the direct descendant
of an earlier play.'
P. GEYL.
LONDON.
English > German Literary Influences, Bibliography and Survey. By
L. M. PRICE. 2 vols. (University of California Publications in
Modern Philology, IX, 1, 2.) Berkeley, Cal.: Univ. of California
Press. 1920. 8vo. 616 pp. $1.25, $4.00.
As the title implies, this book consists of a full bibliography sup-
plemented by a survey, in which the chief works on the list are reviewed
and summarized, thus constituting a general sketch and commentary of
English-German literary influences. ' Es sind also mehr Collectanea zu
einem Buche, als ein Buch.' These words from the Laokoon occur to
Reviews 193
the reader as he puts down these volumes — not, indeed, in any dis-
paraging sense — for it is evident that the arrangement adopted by the
author really constitutes the main value of his book. Had he in any
way sought to urge his own point of view, to press theories of his own,
the work from being a most valuable mine of reliable information would
have become a mere handbook of literature. As it is, the worker must
be eternally grateful to Mr Price for the restraint which he has placed
on his literary and critical talents which, to judge from the few passages
where they are allowed to appear, are of no mean order.
It was no doubt from similar motives that the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries are only lightly touched upon in the Survey (they
occupy barely 30 pages out of a total of 450). Workers in these centuries
will still find the studies of Herford and Waterhouse indispensable. Only
in one vital respect does Mr Price complete the work of Waterhouse
by a chapter on the 'Englische Comedianten.' Nor does he deal with
any English influences prior to the Reformation — they are, it is true,
relatively unimportant1, but the reader would have welcomed some com-
prehensive review of the whole field.
Mr Price's book must therefore be considered mainly as a history of
the influences of England on Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. He was confronted with a much more difficult task than
either Herford or Waterhouse — not only was the material with which
he had to deal immensely superior in bulk (he lists just over 1000 titles
in his Bibliography)2, but it was much more intangible in character, and,
as he progressed, he was met with the highly complicated interrelations
of French, English and German literatures, until by the time he reached
the nineteenth century, it became almost impossible to unravel the
tangled threads of mutual interdependence.
Passing from generalities to details, there is one fact which must
strike the investigator of English influences during the eighteenth cen-
tury, and that is the large number of English works which reached
Germany through the medium of French translation, and the importance
of Amsterdam as a centre of publication and distribution. This was the
case with most of the Moralische Wochenschriften (Survey, p. 191), with
Pope (p. 200), with Elizabeth Rowe (p. 245), with Fielding (p. 386),
and many of the German translations were made from these French
intermediaries. These facts are not emphasized sufficiently and are some-
times only ascertainable from a footnote (cp. note 7, p. 286).
Much is made by the author of a principle of division adopted by
his teacher, Professor A. R. Hohlfeld of the University of Wisconsin.
The latter marks three distinct stages in the development of English
1 Although the recent article of W. Braune in P. B. B. 43, 361 seq. proves conclusively
that the Anglo-Saxon penetration under St Boniface was much more thorough than is
usually supposed.
2 I notice some slight omissions : F. von Zobeltitz, Eine Bibliographie der Robinsonaden
in Zeitschrift fur Bucherfreunde, 1898, Nr. 8/9. P. Hume Brown in Surveys of Scottish
History, Glasgow, 1919, does little more than sum up the work of German scholars in his
chapter on Scottish influence during the eighteenth century.
M.L. R. XVI. 13
194 Reviews
influence in Germany: (1) Addison and Pope and Thomson, who had
certain strong French affiliations. Their chief exponent was Gottsched
at Leipzig during the years 1720-40. (2) Milton and Young repre-
senting the religious and emotional side of literature and advocated so
strongly by Bodmer in Zurich between 1740-60. (3) We have finally
the strongest wave of all, bearing Shakespeare, Ossian and Percy on its
crest, and first introducing to the Germans genius, originality and spon-
taneity. The twenty years from 1760-80 were thus the most fertile
in German literature, and Goethe was the chief exponent of these new
ideas. Any sub-division which renders easier the difficult task of treating
the eighteenth century must always be welcome, but like all gene-
ralizations of this kind it has the disadvantage of being inapplicable to
individual cases. It is difficult, for instance, to fit so important an author
as Lessing into the above scheme : presumably under one criterion he
would go into the same compartment as Gottsched (imagine his disgust !)
whilst he really has affinities with all three groups.
To the average English reader the greatest interest will be aroused
by Part II, ' Shakespeare in Germany,' than which no subject of Anglo-
German literary relations has been more closely studied or presents
greater difficulty. The literature is so voluminous that the present
attempt to marshal it for discussion must necessarily prove extremely
valuable. One of the most fascinating problems is that of Lessing's
relation towards Shakespeare. We see how much of Lessing's Shake-
speare criticism from the famous seventeenth Liter aturbrief onwards,
and his preference for the English over the French drama, was really
drawn from Dryden's Essay of dramatick poesie, which he himself had
translated (1758) ; and how, further, this influence was already begin-
ning to counteract that of Voltaire, and so led to the definite standpoint
taken up in the Theatralische Bibliothek and, finally, in the Hambur-
gische Dramaturgic. And if Lessing never really attained to a true
appreciation of Shakespeare, it is noteworthy that Wieland understood
him still less, as is evident from his translation, for which Herder
declared himself ready ' to scratch out his eyes.' Just as Dryden for
Lessing, so Young's Conjectures on original Composition were to prove
all important for the attitude to Shakespeare of Hamann, Gerstenberg,
Lenz, and through the former of Herder also. ' It was Herder who first
presented Shakespeare in his totality to the German people after Lessing,
Gerstenberg and Wieland had presented certain sides' (Survey, p. 431).
The indebtedness of Goethe to Herder in regard to Shakespeare has
lately been called in question, but without producing any very definite
results. The subject is taken up again in chapter xvi in which the
relations of the German classics to Shakespeare are discussed in con-
nexion with Bb'htlingk's three books on Lessing, Goethe and Schiller.
The attitude of the nineteenth century towards Shakespeare can be
followed from the history of the Schlegel-Tieck-Baudissin translation
and is carried through Kleist, Ludwig, Hebbel and Wagner down to
Nietzsche. It is well to remember that, as a basis for this discussion of
the relations of German literature to Shakespeare, Mr Price had the
Reviews 195
remarkable book of Gundolf, Shakespeare und der deutsche Geist, to the
appreciation of which he devotes a whole chapter.
A separate Part III is given to ' The Nineteenth Century and after.'
At the beginning of the nineteenth century England no longer occupied
the supreme position in literature that it had held a hundred years
previously, for in the -meanwhile the Germans had created a classical
period of their own from which to draw their inspiration. Nevertheless
certain literary influences are still very active ; that of Sterne lingered
on in Jean Paul and Heine, and other Romanticists, soon to make way
however for the greater force of Scott and Dickens1. Burns, it must be
noted, was riot known in Germany until the thirties and then mainly
through the exertions of Carlyle. Moore's Lalla Rookh found many
admirers, including Goethe. Browning and Tennyson also enjoyed great
popularity in their day whilst Oscar Wilde, Swinburne and Mr Bernard
Shaw were greater favourites with the Germans than with their own
countrymen. But of all English lyric poets none has ever evoked more
influence on the continent in general, and in Germany in particular,
than Byron, whose ' Weltschmerz ' soon became a craze. In contrast
with the weakening influence of English literature during the century,
England's political system was still the cynosure of all German patriots,
and England their refuge from the tyranny of their own governments,
the Young German School in particular being loud in their admiration-.
A last chapter 'America in German Literature3' does full justice to
the influence of such men as Fenimore Cooper (to whom Goethe felt
much attracted) and who, for a time, rivalled his contemporary Scott
for the first place in German affections. But apart from Cooper American
prose seems to have been practically unknown. On the other hand
Longfellow, Poe and Whitman have always attracted considerable atten-
tion, the latter, indeed, becoming the object of a special cult. None of
these poets seem, however, to have left any lasting impression on German
literature.
Such is very briefly the contents of this valuable book ; the author
may well be congratulated on the realization of the aim he had set
himself: 'to draw up approximately the sum of our present knowledge
of English > German influences, and by defining the known to suggest
certain neglected episodes for later investigations.' It is to be hoped
that some other scholar, equally well equipped, preferably Mr Price
himself, may be induced by the success of this first venture to attempt
1 The influence of Dickens on Eaabe has been treated by Selma Fliess, Grenoble, 1912.
2 In this connexion should be mentioned the monograph of F. Muncker \fciich Mr Price
has missed: Amchauungen vom englischen Staat und Volk in der deutschen Literatur der
letzten vier Jahrhunderte. Erster Teil, Von Erasmus bis zu Goethe und den Bomantikern
in Sitzungsberichte der Konigl. Bayer. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philos.-philol. und
hist. Klasse, Jahrgang 1918, 3. Abhaiidlung. Although the presentation is scrupulously
objective yet one has the feeling all along that the author regrets the almost uniformly
favourable impression of England and its people which he finds amongst these early
German scholars and poets. He promises some more instructive and trustworthy revela-
tions of the English character for the next chapter.
3 Cp. the chapter « Ubersee ' in W. Oehlke, Die deutsche Literatur seit Goethe* Tod,
Berlin, 1920.
13—2
196 Reviews
the lighter and yet more elusive task of similarly defining the sum total
of our literary obligations to Germany.
In conclusion we cannot praise too highly the typographical arrange-
ment of the work. Fortunate, indeed, are the American scholars who
can induce publishers to undertake such magnificent series as that in
which the present volume appears, and for whom the publication of a.
learned book does not involve the assumption of a serious financial
burden.
L. A. WlLLOUGHBY.
SHEFFIELD.
Norwegian Life and Literature: English Accounts and Views. By
C. B. BURCHARDT. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1920. 8vo. viii +
230 pp. 105. Qd.
Mr C. B. Burchardt's work is a valuable contribution to our know-
ledge of the development of English interest in Scandinavia and its-
literature. It displays the same thoroughness and grasp of detail* as
Mr Frank Farley's admirable treatise on Scandinavian Influences on the
English Romantic Movement in the Eighteenth Century, with which it
deserves to rank. The book also contains appendices with useful biblio-
graphical material.
The author comments on the absence in the first half of the nine-
teenth century of any Englishman with a knowledge of Norwegian
literature. It is possible that Sir John Bowring and George Borrow might
have acquired that knowledge, had they received sufficient encourage-
ment. Originally both possessed enthusiasm and some familiarity with
the subject. But the reception with which their proposals for translating
Norwegian and other Scandinavian authors met did not stimulate them
to penetrate further. It is, however, of interest to note that Borrow
translated Edvard Storm's Thorvald Vidforle and Zinklars Vise,.
P. H. Frimann's Hortnelen and C. B. Tullin's Maidagen, though the two
last have, to my knowledge, not yet been published. As Mr Burchardt's
treatise was written in 1918, he may be excused for not knowing what
was contained in Borrow's manuscripts. Similarly, his statement on
p. 110 that 'Apart from Mr Gosse's pages on Wergeland and those
written by Mr Latham thirty years before, no detailed account of the
Norwegian poet has ever appeared in English ' was correct at the time
it was written. Since then, however, Mr I. Grondahl's privately printed
study of Wergeland has appeared. On the other hand it is unfortunate
that so scholarly a work as Mr Burchardt's should contain the statement
that ' Borrow's Danish ballads were imitated from A. S. Vedel's collection
of Danish ballads' (p. 78, note 3). This view, so carefully spread by
Borrow himself, was shown to be incorrect some years ago by Mr Edmund
Gosse.
Mr Burchardt rightly makes merry over the ideas of Norway and
the Norwegians to be found in English novelists who have laid the scene
of their stories in Norway. Many of the travellers are not less delight-
Reviews 197
fully absurd, as witness H. Smith, who in his Tent Life in Norway tells
how he came to a gate with the inscription ' Luk grinden ' (' Shut the
gate '), which he clearly takes to be the name of the owner (' Luk ' =
Luke) !
It is strange, as Mr Burchardt indicates, that on the whole so little
attention should have been paid to translating Holberg's comedies.
It is highly desirable that they should be better known. At the close
of his treatise, Mr Burchardt points out how few translations have been
made into English of modern Norwegian writers, such as Knut Hamsun.
It is as if interest had been exhausted by Bjornson and Ibsen. No doubt
it is all to the good that Mr Burchardt should have singled out the
gaps in our knowledge of Norway and its literature and it is to be hoped
that the various new organizations of which the author speaks will do
something to remedy these deficiencies.
HERBERT G. WRIGHT.
BANGOR.
MINOE NOTICES.
In Dr J. H. H. Lyon's Study of The Newe Metamorphosis written by
J. M. Gent., 1600 (New York : Columbia University Press ; London :
H. Milford, 1919, 85. 6d.) we are introduced to a very curious produc-
tion— a poem of some 30,000 lines preserved in Add. MSS. 14824-6,
written, as the editor shows, between 1600 and 1615, and extremely
discursive in subject. As poetry, it is a work of a very low order, but it
is clearly of value as a reflexion of Elizabethan life. Its account of
Essex's capture of Cadiz in which the author took part is especially
vivid and interesting. The editor gives a number of extracts from the
poem which make us eager to have the whole, but his dissertation is
mainly occupied with determining the identity of the author ' J. M. Gent.'
The MS. had belonged to F. G. Waldron (1744-1818) who had jotted
down the names of four men of letters with the required initials : John
Marston, Jervase Markham, James Martin, John Mason. Since his time
the work has been most generally ascribed to Marston. Dr Lyon dis-
poses of Marston and the last two, and makes out a strong case for Jervase
Markham (whose first name is however more frequently spelt ' Gervase ').
Markham was however a voluminous writer both of prose and verse, and
if he were ' J. M.' one would think that it would be possible to find
passages in this MS. poem which were echoes, in thought of expression,
of passages in Markham's acknowledged works. This the editor has not
done, in fact he finds that Markham's verse style is far more ornate than
J. M.'s. J. M. has peculiarities of language, e.g. he uses 'loade' = 'laden.'
It is not shown that these are shared by Markham. We are left with
only a general agreement between the two authors in an interest in fish
and country pursuits and in a general sympathy with Puritanism. Till
the proof has been pushed a little further, one must consider that J. M.'s
identity with Markham is not yet established.
198 Minor Notices
One suspects that Dr Lyon has not always succeeded in reading his
MS. correctly. He prints ' Gallemanfrey ' pp. 45, 160, ' Gradinus 'p. 171,
'despate' (=' desperate ') pp. 183, 184, ' Outs' (?<Ours') p. 208, <upp'
(? 'upper') p. 214. On pp. 178, 183 ' squilkes ' surely means ' skulks,' not
' swills.' It is interesting to find J. M. saying of our war-ships : ' these
are indeede our Englands wooden wals' (p. 193).
G. C. M. S.
On the Art of Reading, the third publication of the series of Sir
Arthur Quiller-Couch's lectures on English Literature to Cambridge
students (Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1920, 15$.) reaches the same high
standard of excellence that characterized the two preceding volumes.
The book contains much more than its title would appear to connote,
dealing, as it does, with Children's Reading, Reading for Examinations,
A School of English, The Value of Greek and Latin in English Literature,
The Bible, Selection, and The Use of Masterpieces.
Apart from its wide scope and sound erudition, an outstanding
feature of the book is the interesting and inspiring method with which
every subject is treated.
The lecturer draws freely on his encyclopaedic knowledge of books
and their writers, ancient, medieval, and moderp; the whole field of
literature from Lear's Book of Nonsense to Aristotle and Plato being
laid under contribution to provide felicitous quotation and apt illustration.
The versatility of the author is specially noticeable, his treatment of
children's reading being as facile and enlightening as his disquisition
on the value of Greek and Latin in English Literature.
Wit, humour, and pleasant discursiveness add to the charm of the
lectures, and do not in the least detract from the tone of high serious-
ness that animates the author and inspires the reader, and reaches its
culmination in the concluding lecture — ' The Use of Masterpieces ' — in
itself a masterpiece of artistic appreciation and eloquent appeal.
The lectures are equally valuable to students for the English Tripos,
to teachers of Literature in every type of school, and to the lover of
reading for its own sake.
J. H.
Les Origines de la Poesie frangaise de la Renaissance, by Henri
Chamard( Paris: Boccard,1920,12fr.)is a re-publication, with littlechange,
of a course of lectures delivered at the Sorbonne in the winter of 1913-
1914 and reported in the Revue des Cours et Conferences. M. Chamard
begs his readers not to forget this, but one cannot help doubting
whether these lectures, which were admirably suited to their original
purpose, will be found equally useful to the student who reads them at
this distance of time. At any rate there is not much in them for a critic
to notice. We begin with a historical survey of the studies in French
sixteenth -century poetry from 1828 to 1914 ; it is excellent as far as it
goes, but it might have been carried with advantage down to 1920. In
comparing Rabelais's Abbey of Thelema with Ronsard's account of his
Minor Notices 199
own daily life M. Chamard notes as a point of difference that Ronsard
begins and ends his day with prayer. But he forgets, firstly, that at
Thelema each member had his or her private chapel, and secondly that
in the scheme of Gargantua's education the day ended with prayer, just
as Rorisard's did. M. Chamard's account of the attitude of the Renais-
sance to Christianity is perfectly just ; as he says, it tended to make
religion much more individual, much less collective and social. He well
defines Humanism as 'the cult of the Renaissance for classical antiquity.'
The recently invented term of 'modern humanities' and the absurd
definition of humanities as 'the whole civilization of a people' are the
result of a hopeless confusion of thought. Finally, attention may be
drawn to M. Chamard's conclusion, which is that the Renaissance ' was
not a brusque rupture with the Middle Ages, but that the change was
being prepared over a long period.' This is quite true; at the same time
we must not forget that during the first quarter of the sixteenth century
there was a marked quickening of the Renaissance spirit in France, which
impressed itself very vividly upon contemporaries.
A. T.
Dr Lander Macclintock's work on Sainte-Beuve's Critical Theory and
Practice after 1849 (Chicago : Univ. of Chicago Press ; Cambridge :
Univ. Press, 1920, 1 dol. 25) has the great merit of treating adequately a
clearly-marked period — that which extends from Sainte-Beuve's return
to Paris from Liege to his death in 1869. The more important dicta on
the functions of criticism which Sainte-Beuve gave forth during this, his
greatest, period are carefully collected and classified in seven chapters.
This scholarly treatise is not easy to read, and it is not without its quota
of curious misprints. But it throws a great deal of light on Sainte-
Beuve's method, it is an able continuation of M. Michaut's Sainte-Beuve
avant les Lundis and it takes an honourable place in the voluminous
literature which criticizes the critic.
R. L. G. R.
Selections from Saint-Simon, edited by Arthur Tilley (Cambridge :
Univ. Press, 1920, 8s.) and Cambridge Readings in French Literature,
by the same editor (Cambridge : Univ. Press, 1920, 8s.) are attractive
Anthologies which do honour to the width of Mr Tilley's reading and the
catholicity of his taste The first presents, with a critical Introduction
and the necessary historical notes, what are for most practical purposes
the literary remains of Saint-Simon. The second, unfortunately marred
by very frequent misprints, comprises both prose and poetry and com-
memorates some of the great names in French History. The arrangement,
according to subject-matter, seems somewhat arbitrary. Some conspicuous
omissions are no doubt due to the wide field covered and to the copy-
right exigencies of short-sighted publishers. Both Anthologies make a
direct appeal to every lover of French literature.
R. L. G. R.
200 Minor Notices
The new Oxford Italian Series opens well with two little volumes,
Francesco de Sanctis, Two Essays : Giuseppe Parini, Ugo Foscolo, ed. by
Piero Rebora, and Paolo Ferrari, Qoldoni e le sue sedici commedie nuove,
edited by Arundell del Re (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1920, 3s. and 3s 6d.),
of which there is a cheaper edition in cloth, without the prefaces and notes.
There is a pleasing freshness in the selection. Francesco de Sanctis is
still too little known in this country (though Addington Symonds bor-
rowed somewhat copiously from him in his work on the Renaissance in
Italy), and the two essays here presented by Dr Rebora are eminently
characteristic, that on Ugo Foscolo, perhaps, representing the great
Neapolitan critic at his best. The comedy of Paolo .Ferrari, for which
Mr del Re claims that it ' marks a definite step in the development of the
drama in Italy,' is a distinct and welcome novelty in a scholastic series.
It might have been well to have added some guidance on the Venetian
dialect, for fuller elucidation of the speeches of ' el nobile Grimani.' In
both volumes there is an adequate bibliography, and the notes are good
and useful, though we would suggest that (in the notes on De Sanctis)
it is hardly accurate to describe Maria Teresa as ' Empress of Austria in
Parini's time.' The principle of accentuation adopted, the indication of
the stress accent by a grave stroke without any discrimination between
open and close vowels, may frighten our teachers of phonetics from
their propriety, though we have no doubt that the general editor of
the series can make out a good case for the proceeding. The series
promises to supply welcome substitutes for the more hackneyed texts
too long in vogue in our Italian classes and will fill a real need for the
private student. We wish the enterprise every success. '
E. G. G.
Professor G. Baldwin Brown and Mr Bruce Dickins of the University
of Edinburgh write to us as follows :
'Will you kindly grant us permission through the hospitality of your
columns to make the following appeal for help in an archaeological
undertaking ? We are preparing for publication by the Cambridge
University Press an Annotated Corpus of Runic Inscriptions in Great
Britain, on or in stone, bone, wood, metal, or other such material, and
we shall be most grateful if any of your readers interested in the subject
will kindly bring under our notice any newly-discovered specimen and
any example which we are not likely to know. Runically inscribed
objects contained in the larger and better-known public collections, or
published in archaeological works of national scope, we shall naturally
have on our list, but as regards those in private hands or in local collec-
tions of the smaller type, we shall be very glad of information, if corre-
spondents will kindly send it to one of us.'
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
December, 1920 — February, 1921.
GENERAL.
BALDENSPERGER, F., Litterature comparee : le mot et la chose (Rev. de Lit.
comp. i, 1, Jan.).
BROWN, S. J., The Realm of Poetry: an Introduction. London, G. G. Harrap. 5s.
HUEBNER, F. M., Europas neue Kunst und Dichtung. Berlin, J. Springer. 10 M.
MCKNIGHT, G. H., Ballad and Dance (Mod. Lang. Notes, xxxv, 8, Dec.).
OLIVERO, F., Studies in Modern Poetry. London, H. Milford. 7s. Qd.
OMOND, T. S., A Study of Metre. London, De la More Press. 7s. Qd.
URDANG, G., Der Apotheker im Spiegel der Literatur. Berlin, J. Springer. 20 M.
ROMANCE LANGUAGES.
Italian.
ASIOLI, L., Dante Alighieri : la sua opera, la sua fede. Ravenna. L. 2.50.
BERTACCHI, G., II primo romanticismo lombardo. Padua, G. Parisotto.
COCHIN, H., Petrarque (Les Cent Chefs-d'oeuvre etrangers). Paris, Renaissance
du Livre. 4 fr.
CORTESE, G., Delle ragioni perchk Dante Alighieri scrisse in italiano la Divina
Commedia. Rome, A. Signorelli. L. 12.50.
CORTI, C., La riforma teatrale di C. Goldoni. Como, Provvidenza.
CROCE, B., II sesto centenario dantesco e il carattere della poesia di Dante.
Discorso. Florence, Sansoni. L. 2.50.
DANTE ALIGHIERI, The Divine Comedy. With Translation and Commentary
by C. Langdon. n. Purgatorio. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press;
London, H. Milford. 21s.
Dante-Jahrbuch, Deutsches. v. Jena, E. Diederichs. 20 M.
DE SANCTIS, F., Two Essays : Giuseppe Parini ; Ugo Foscolo. Ed. by P. Rebora.
Oxford, Clarendon Press. 3s.
FRESTA, M., II regno di Sicilia nella opera di Dante Alighieri. Acireale, Tip.
Orario delle ferrovie. L. 8.
GOLDONI, C., La vedova scaltra (Bibl. romanica, 260, 261). Strasbourg, J. H. E.
Heitz. 3 M.
GRILLO, E., Early Italian Literature, n. London, Blackie. 10s. Qd.
HASSE, E., Dantes gottliche Komodie. Das Epos vom inneren Menschen. Eine
Auslegung. 2. Aufl. Kempten, J. Kosel. 20 M.
HAZARD, P., L'invasion des litte"ratures du Nord dans PItalie du xviii6
siecle (Rev. de Lit. comp. i, 1, Jan.).
SCARANO, N., La miscredenza del Manzoni (Giorn. stor. della lit. ital.,
Ixxvi, 3).
202 New Publications
SERRA, R., Scritti critici. u. Eome, La Voce. L. 7.
Sonetti burleschi e realistic! dei primi due secoli a cura di A. F. Massera
(Scrittori d'ltalia, 88, 89). Bari, Laterza. L. 17.
SPITZER, L., Die Umschreibungen des Begriffes 'Hunger' ini Italienischen
(Zeitschr. f. rom. Phil., Beihefte, Ixix). Halle, M. Niemeyer. 42 M.
TORRACA, F., Lettere di Dante (Nuov. Ant., Dec. 1).
Spanish.
Cambridge Readings in Spanish Literature. Ed. by J. Fitzmaurice-Kelly. Cam-
bridge, Univ. Press. 10s.
DIAZ-JIMENEZ Y MOLLEDA, E., Clemente Sanchez de Vercial (Rev. fit. esp.,
vii, 3, 4).
FITZMAURICE-KELLY, J., Fray Luis de Leon. A Biographical Fragment (His-
panic Society of America). London, H. Milford. 7s. Qd.
FORD, J. D. M., Main Currents of Spanish Literature. London, Constable. 15s.
JUD, J., Acerca de 'ambuesta' y 'almuerza' (Rev. fit. esp., vii, 3, 4).
MENE"NDEZ PIDAL, R., Estudios literarios. Madrid. 6 pes.
MEN^NDEZ PIDAL, R., Sobre geografia folk!6rica (Rev.Jtt. esp., vii, 3, 4).
UNAMUNO, M. DE, Contribuciones a la etimologfa castellana (Rev. fil. esp.y
vii, 3, 4).
Portuguese.
DANTAS, J., Dramatische Dichtungen, herausg. von L. Ey (Neuere portugiesische
Schriftsteller, iii). Heidelberg, J. Groos. 6 M.
FIGUEIREDO, F. DE, A Critica Litteraria como sciencia. 3a ed. Lisbon, Livr.
classica.
JORGE, R., F. Rodrigues Lobo. Estudo biografico e critico. Coimbra, Imp. da
Universidade.
French.
(a) General (incl. Linguistic).
BARBIER, P., Les noms des poissons d'eau douce dans les textes latins (Rev.
de Phil, franp., xxxii, 2).
GILLIE"RON, J., Patologie et teVapeutique verbales (suite) (Rev. phil. franc.,
xxxii, 2).
SCHMIDT, H., Beitrage zur franzosischen Syntax, xiv (Neuere Sprachen,
xxviii, 5, 6).
TOBLER, A., Vermischte Beitrage zur franzosischen Grammatik. I. 3. Aufl.
Leipzig, S. Herzel. 30 M.
(6) Old French.
Couronnement de Louis, Le, ed. par E. Langlois (Classiques fran9. du moyen-
age). Paris, E. Champion. 6 fr.
FRANK, G., The * Palatine Passion ' and the Development of the Passion
Play (Publ. M. L. A. Arner., xxxv, 4, Dec.).
LERCH, E., Einfiihrung in das Altfranzosische (Phil. Studienbiicher). Leipzig,
B. G. Teubner. 13 M. 50.
Mysteres et Moralite's du Manuscrit 617 de Chantilly. Publics par G. Cohen
(Bibl. du xve Siecle). Paris, E. Champion. 30 fr.
Nostre Dame del Tumbeor. Altfranzosische Marienlegende (Rornanische
Texte, i). Berlin, Weidmann. 3 M. 40.
Roman de la Rose, Le, public par E. Langlois, ii (Soc. des anciens textes
frang.).
New Publications 203
(<?) Modern French.
ADDAMIANO, N., Delle opere poetiche francesi di J. du Bellay e delle sue imita-
zioni italiane. Naples, Detken e Rocholl. L. 12.
BOSSUET, J. B., Lettres sur 1'education du Dauphin. Introd. et notes par E.
Levesque. Paris, Bossard. 12 fr.
BOUHOURS, D., Entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugene. Ed. par R. Radmont. 12 fr.
BREMONT, H., Histoire litteraire du sentiment religieux en France depuis la fin
des guerres de religion jusqu'& nos jours. 2 vols. Paris, Bloud et Gay.
20 fr.
BRIEUX, E., E. Augier, chevalier de la bourgeoisie (Rev. d. deux Mondes,
Jan. 1 and 15).
CHATEAUBRIAND, F. R. DE, Vie de Ranee. Introd. et notes de J. Benda. Paris,
Bossard. 12 fr.
CHATEAUBRIAND, F. R. DE, Voyage an Mont Blanc. Nouv. ed., suivie d'une
^tude sur Chateaubriand et la Montagne, par G. Faure. Valence, J. Ceas.
CHOISY, L. F., Sainte-Beuve : I'honame et le poete. Paris, Plon-Nourrit. 7 fr. 50.
COHEN, G., Ecrivains, fran9ais en Hollande dans la premiere moitie du xvne
siecle. Paris, E. Champion. 50 fr.
COURIER, P. L., Lettres ecrites de France et d'ltalie. Annotees par L. Coquelin.
Paris, Larousse. 4 fr. 50.
DANCOURT, F. C. DE, et SAINT- YON, Le chevalier & la mode (Bibl. romanica,
262, 263). Strasbourg, J. H. E. Heitz. 3 M.
DE ANNA, L., F. Sarcey : sa vie et ses ceuvres. Florence, Bemporad. L. 8.50.
Du BELLAY, J., La defience et illustration de la langue frangoise (Roman. Texte,
ii). Berlin, Weidmann. 6 M.
Du BELLAY, J., Les Regrets. Avec introd. et notes par R. de Beauplan. Paris,
Sansot. 5 fr.
D'URFJS, H., L'Astree. Publiee par H. Vaganay, I (Bibl. romanica, 257-259).
Strasbourg, J. H. E. Heitz. 9 M.
F^NELON, De 1'education des filles. Introd. et notes par A. Cherel. Paris, Ha-
chette. 6 fr. 30.
FENELON, Ecrits et lettres politiques. Publics sur les MSS. par C. Urbain.
Paris, Bossard. 12 fr.
GABRIELLI, A., Rousseau e il Teatro (Nuova Ant., Dec. 1).
GAULTIER, P., Les mattres de la pensee fran§aise: P. Hervieu, E. Boutroux,
H. Bergson, M. Barres. Paris, Payot. 7 fr. 50.
GIANASSO, F., La preciosite et Moliere. Turin, Soc. tip. ed. Nazionale.
GIDE, A., E. Verhaeren (Rev. held., Jan. 15).
LA FONTAINE, J. DE, Theatre choisi. Paris, Soc. litt. de France. 40 fr.
HUGO, V., La Preface de Cromwell (Roman. Texte, iii). Berlin, Weidmann. 6 M.
LANSON, G., Esquisse d'une Histoire de la Tragedie fran9aise. New York,
Columbia Univ. Press ; London, H. Milford. 5s. 60?.
LANTOINE, A., P. Verlaine et quelques-uns. Paris, Livre mAisuel. 5 fr.
LARAT, J., Un voyageur romantique en Angleterre: Ch. Nodier (Anglo-
French Rev., iv, 5, Dec.).
MALLARME, S., Vers de circonstance. Paris, Nouv. Rev. frang. 8 fr. 50.
MARGUERITTE, M., Le roman d'une grande ame : Lamartine. Paris, Plon-
Nourrit. 10 fr.
MONTIGNY, M., En voyageant avec Mad. de Sevigne\ Paris, E. Champion. 6 fr.
MULERTT, W., F. Villons Fortleben in Wissenschaft und Dichtung (Neuere
Spr., xxviii, 7, 8).
204 New Publications
MUSSET, A. DE, On ne badine pas avec 1'amour. Ed. suivie de notes et de
variantes. Paris, Ores. 20 fr.
KAYNAUD, E., La mele'e symboliste. n. 1890-1900. Paris, Renais. du Livre.
4fr.
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[NOTE. The Italian, French and Old and Middle English sections have been
compiled with the assistance of the Modern Humanities Research Association.]
VOLUME XVI JULY— OCTOBER, 1921 NUMBERS 3—4
THOMAS EDWARDS, AUTHOR OF 'CEPHALUS
AND PROCRIS,. NARCISSUS.'
THE discovery of Thomas Edwards and his two poems, after they had
been engulfed together for centuries in the cold waters of oblivion, pro-
vides us with one of the encouraging romances of Bibliography. Taken
as a piece of printer's property, we knew from the Stationers' Registers,
that on the 22nd day of October 1593 (six months after Richard Field
entered for his copy Venus and Adonis) John Wolfe entered for his
copy 'a Booke entituled Procris and Cephalus, deuided into 4 parts.'
We hear nothing more of the book for two years, then two contem-
porary references to it make us fancy it was not appreciated. In 1595,
W. C. (Couell) in his Polimanteia complaining of the printers says ' then
should not Zepheria, Cephalus and Procris (workes I dispraise not), like
watermen pluck euery passinger by the sleeue.' Here comes a marginal
note, 'But by the greedie Printers so made prostitute that they are
contemned.'
In the following year Thomas Nash, in his pamphlet Have with you
to Saffron Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's hunt is up, wishing to discredit
Harvey, says that he was in the habit of pressing the work of inferior
writers upon Wolfe, if they satisfied him ' in rayling against mee, and
feed his humor of vaine-glorie.'...'So did he by that Philistine poem of
Parthenophill and Parthenope which to compare worse than itselfe,
it would plunge all the wits of France, Spaine, or Italy. And when he
saw it would not sell, he called all the world asses a hundred times ouer,
with the stampingest cursing and tearing he could vtter it, for that
he having giu'n it his passe or good word, they obstinately contemned
and misliked it. So did he by Chute's Shores Wife, and his Procris and
Cephalus, and a number of Pamphlagoniari things more, that it would
rust and yronspot paper to have but one sillable. . .breathed ouer it.' We
must always discount Nash's language in his vituperative moods, yet it
was over 270 years before we heard anything more about this book.
Procris and Cephalus was merely entered in our catalogues as a work
by Chute. In the year 1867, however, a fragment of the volume was
found by Mr Edmunds in the Library of Sir C. E. Isham of Lamport
M.L. R. xvi. 14
210 Thomas Edwards, Author of ' Cephalus and Procris '
Hall1. It fortunately contained the title page ' Cephalus and Procris.
Narcissus. Aurora musae arnica. London. Imprinted by John Wolfe,
1595.' The name of the author Thomas Edwards comes at the end of
the Dedication ; the first poem was not completed, and the second not
begun. Mr W. C. Hazlitt had just time to hurry a notice of it as ' a dull
poem/ into his edition of Warton's History of Poetry, and to add that
' there was no perfect copy extant.'
Eleven years later came a new surprise. The Rev. W. E. Buckley
found a perfect copy in the Cathedral Library of Peterborough, and in
1882 he reproduced this in a scholarly edition for the Roxburghe Society
Reprints. Since the first outburst of enthusiasm on its appearance,
there has been little consideration of the various puzzles associated with
it, probably because the learned Editor did his work so thoroughly.
He must have spent on it a large amount of time and trouble, love
and learning. He brought together the preliminary information, at-
tempted to find the poet in College Registers, clerical appointments
and Latin poems, really found the pedigree and status of the patron,
and completed his work by a voluminous set of notes, chiefly philo-
logical.
Many years ago, I had put a great deal of work into the subject,
but as a hitch occurred in one of my hypotheses, I was forced to lay it
aside through the pressure of other literary work. When asked to give
a lecture to the Elizabethan Society, it occurred to me that it would be
worth while bringing the subject forward, as others, by this time, might
have found some new points which, added to mine, might help to eluci-
date the story of the author and his book.
We now know that the clerk of the Stationers' Company made two
slips, in reversing the order of the names of the first poem, and in
describing the whole as in four parts, that is, really, the two poems, and
two envoys, in four different measures of verse. It was near enough to
distinguish Wolfe's entry. Both poems are examples of the poetical
translations from Classical, Italian, Spanish or French originals that
were so much in vogue in the sixteenth century. Both stories had been
translated in Arthur Golding's Ovid 1565-7, Cephalus and Procris in the
7th Book f. 91V, Narcissus in the 3rd Book f. 35V. The latter as a story
seems to have been more popular in England. Chaucer tells it in the
Romaunt of the Rose, 11. 1 455-1543 ; it appears in The Moralisation of the
Fable of Ovid printed by Thomas Hacket 1560. A Latin poem of
Narcissus was dedicated by John Clapham to the Earl of Southampton
1 Now in the British Museum.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 211
in 1591. Warner in Albion's England renders the story (Book IX,
chap. 46).
The long interval which lay between the registration and publication
of Edwards' book is remarkable. Perhaps therein lay some trick of the
* greedie printers.'
Edwards renders his first poem in decasyllabic rhyming couplets,
the second in seven-lined stanzas. Neither poem can be described by
Hazlitt's phrase as * dull/ the rendering in general is poetic. He does
not follow the text of Ovid slavishly, he introduces effectively the story
of Aurora's love-making to Cephalus, and Lamia's encouragement of
Procris. His vision was wide and suggestive, his pace rapid, he has
some striking passages, and many fine lines. Had he always written up
to his own highest level he would have taken a very different place in
literature to-day. The poetic strain in him was marred by some lack of
culture or of taste. It may be that he wrote at long intervals of time
during which his fervours cooled, or his critical powers failed. His
rhythm is sometimes faulty, so is his rhyme, and too many of his words
are archaic. He is less happy in the seven-lined stanza of Narcissus,
more unequal, sometimes even clumsy. Yet it is to Narcissus and its
Envoy that we look most eagerly, as it touches on contemporary poets,
among them Shakespeare.
Edwards dedicates his book 'to the Right Worshippfull Master Thomas
Argall Esquire,' in words that almost suggest some of Shakespeare's
Sonnet phrases :
Nor will I straine it foorth,
To tilt against the Sunne with seeming speeches,
Suffizeth all are ready and awaite,
With their hartes-soule, and Artes perswasiue mistresse,
To tell the lonely honor, and the worth,
Of your deseruing praise, Heroicke graces :
What were it then for me to praise the light?
When none, but one, commendes darke shady night.
O with thy fauour, light a young beginner,
From margining reproach, Satyricke gloses,
And gentle Sir, at your best pleasing leysure,
Shine on these cloudy lines, that want adorning,
That I may walke, where neuer path was scene, *
In shadie groues, twisting the inirtle greene.
That would seem to mean that he should be included among the poets
who were supposed to weave myrtle wreaths.
While he says pretty things to an interested and possibly helpful
patron, he more earnestly addresses himself in prose to that critical group
formed by Sir Philip Sidney and his friends, and still continued by
H— 2
212 Thomas Edwards, Author of l Cephalus and Procris'
Spenser, Dyer, Gabriel Harvey, Fulke Greville and others (including
the Queen), who held the fate of poets in their hand :
To the Honorable Gentlemen, and true fauourites of Poetrie,....
In writing of these twoo imperfect Poemes, I haue ouergonne myselfe...but for that
diners of my friendes have slak't that feare in me, and (as it were) heau'd me onwards
to touch the lap of your accomplished vertues. I haue thus boldly... set to the view
of your Heroicke censures....
Now is the sap of sweete science budding, and the true honor of Cynthia vnder
our climate girt in a robe of bright tralucent lawne ; Deckt gloriously with bayes
and vnder her fayre raigne, honoured with euerlasting renowne, fame and Maiesty... .
O, what is Honor without the complements of Fame ? or the liuing spark es in
any heroicke gentleman 1 not souzed by the adamantine Goate-bleeding impression of
some Artist.
Well could Homer paint on Vlysses shield, for that Vlysses fauour made Homer
paint.
Thrise happy Amintas that bode his penne to steepe in the muses golden type
of all bounty....
How many when they tosse their pens to eternize some of their fauourites...
that either begin or end with the description of black and ougly night ?...
Some there are (I know) that hold fortune at hazard, and trip it of in buskin till
I feare me, they will have nothe but skin.
I walke not in clouds nor can I shro'dly moralize on any...onely I am vrg'd as it
were to paraphrase on their doinges with my penne, because I honour learning with
my heart. And thus benigne gentlemen, as I began, so in duety I end, euer prest1 to
do you all seruice. THOMAS EDWARDS.
Contrary to what one would have expected from the preliminaries,
Edwards commences his first poem, not in praise of the dawn, but of:
Faire and bright Cynthia, Tones great ornament
Richly adorning nightes darke firmament,
whose path he follows until he loses it in the sea, and the dawn is
heralded. Then he prays Apollo to help him to paint Cephalus as he
was wont to go early to the chase. In the legend of Aurora's wooing the
hunter, after her failure he makes her suggest to the latter his testing
Procris. When his poor wife roamed the woods wailing in her misery,
an ' uncivil swain ' told her that Cephalus awaited Aurora by a certain
thicket, for he had heard him call ' Aer, Aer, come and cool me.' Procris
went to the thicket, thinking no* evil, but hoping she would have the
chance of pleading with Cephalus. He, hearing the rustle among the
bushes, thought it was some wild beast, flung his fatal dart, and did not
miss his mark. There was hardly time for mutual explanations and
embraces before she died, and he mourned her ever after. To this poem
Edwards has added an Envoy in an irregular eight-lined stanza, which
somewhat recapitulates the situations.
The second poem Narcissus has a title page, motto and date of
its own. Instead of the decasyllabic rhymes of Cephalus and Procris
Edwards essays a seven-lined stanza, and without further preface, calls on
1 Ever ready.
CHARLOTTE CARM1CHAEL STOPES 213
You that are faire...You that are chaste....
You Delians that the Muses artes can moue....
You that in beauties honor do curuate,
Come sing with me....
I tune no discord, neither on reproache.
From the 5th stanza Edwards makes Narcissus tell his own story. He
confesses how he scorned the crowd of adoring women who brought him
gifts and jewels. He accepted the gifts, but would have none of the
givers :
I stood as nice as any she aliue.
Then one of these foretells that he would suffer for his cruelty, in
learning to love in vain, which carne true when he saw himself reflected
in the fountain, fancied it was a nymph and felt he loved that face, and
in vain :
Yet such a liumor tilted in my brest...
I proudly boasted that she was my choice.
Edwards slightly introduces the wooing of Narcissus by Echo; but
nothing would satisfy the youth except the maiden he thought he saw
looking through the fountain. He tried to kiss her in vain, because the
water became disturbed by his long hair when he came too near :
And so continued treating, till with teares
The spring run ore, yet she to kisse forbare.
Looke on those faire eies, smile to shew affection,
Tell how my beautie would inrich her fauour,
Talke Sun-go-do wne, no rules tending to action,
But she would scorne, and swear so God should saue her
Her loue burnt like perfume quite without sauour :
Yet if, (quoth she) or I but dreamt she spake it,
'Tis but a kisse you craue, why stoupe and take it...
It is the water and not she that wauers.
Then the end came :
Imbracing sighs, and telling tales to stones,
Amidst the spring I leapt to ease my mones...
Pardon my tale, for I am going hence,
Cephisus now freez'd, whereat the sea-nymphs shout,
And thus my candle flam'd, and here burnt out.
With this startling and confusing anticlimax Edwards ends the poem
which in Golding's version (following Ovid) ended :
Then body was there none, but growing on the ground,
A yellow flower with lilly leaues insted thereof they found.
The Envoy to Narcissus in six-lined stanzas contains the writer's
most halting poetry, and his appreciations of other contemporary poets.
Before going further we want to know so far as possible who the author
really was. His name was secured us by Mr Edmunds. Mr Buckley
tries to find him among reverend clerics. The only thing I seem to
214 Thomas Edwards, Author of ' Cephalus and Procris '
know about him is that he is none of these. I look for the author, not in
convocation, but in court. We may try to find what manner of man he
was from his poems. Not that the author trimmed them with fragments
of biography, as many of his contemporaries did, but he shewed uncon-
sciously at times some traces of his character and condition.
1. It seems to me from his opening praise of the Queen among
the ' favourites ' of Poetry, that he was well aware he might be taken to
task verbally if he had forgotten to flatter her ; and there seems to have
been some personal acquaintance between him and some of the members
of the group of recognised critics. Nash's words support this idea, by
his very abuse of the poem.
2. He speaks modestly about his own work, with a modesty that
seems real, and appreciates warmly the work of others. No hatred;
malice, or uncharitableness, no winged shafts of satire through veiled
words of his.
3. While he seeks brotherhood among ordinary poets, he acknow-
ledges with reverence as his master, Spenser, under the name of ' Collyn.'
Edwards is never weary of singing his praises. Even in the midst of his
story of Cephalus and Procris, he bursts out in praise of the prime poet
in a long passage, concluding :
0 to that quick sprite of thy smooth-cut quill,
Without surmise of thinking any ill,
I1 offer vp in duetie and in zeale,
This dull conceite of mine, and do appeale
With reuerence to thy2
On will I put that breste-plate and there on,
Riuet the standard boare in spite of such ;
As thy bright name condigne or would but touch,
Affection is the whole Parenthesis,
That here I streake, which from our taske doth misse.
Probably his devotion to Spenser tempted him into the super-
abundant use of archaic and compound words, and words used in un-
usual senses, as ' the teares of the muses haue been teared in Helicon '
alluding to Spenser's opening lines of The Tears of the Muses.
4. He speaks of many classical characters but few Englishmen. The
only one he mentions, not a poet, seems to be Francis Drake:
As when the English Globe-Encompasser
By fames purveying found another land.
5. While he displays a desire to be like one of the brotherhood of
poets, he takes some trouble to make quite clear his tastes, if not his pro-
1 "He thinks it the duetie of everyone that sailes to strike maintop before that great and
mighty poet COLLYN."
2 As in Mr Buckley's reprint.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 215
fession. The clash of arms in the tournament rings through all his verse,
his language is coloured with heraldic tinctures. His patron had 'heroic
graces/ his critics give ' heroic censures.' He has a strange new metaphor
for writing poetry. Though his master Spenser still used the academic
phrase of ' piping ' and calls poets ' Shepherds/ while Edwards sometimes
calls it ' singing,' sometimes ' sailing' he more often calls it ' tilting.' In
the quotations given above this may be seen, and there are many more :
Nor will I straine it foorth,
To tilt against the Sunne with seeming speeches.
Although he differs much from men,
Tilting under Frieries.
Not only in this but in other phrases, he uses language from the
lists, ' You that in beauties honor do curuate.' To ' taint ' is used in
the tournament sense, of to touch. He speaks of breastplates, standards,
impresas. In the quaint phrase ' the living sparks in any heroic gentle-
man not souzed by the adamantine Goate- bleeding impression of some
Artist ' — he reminds us that it was then supposed that soaking in goat's
blood was the only means to make carving in adamant possible. All this
gives ground for my belief, that he was associated in some way with Arms.
6. The next point I wanted to find, was his proximate age. That is
difficult. It is true that he speaks of himself to his patron as a * young
beginner.' But that might have been a bit of fun, a specimen of his
peculiar humour. A much more laboured attempt to prove the opposite
may be found in his description of himself at the opening of his Envoy
to Narcissus :
Poets that diuinely dreampt,
Telling wonders visedly,
My slow Muse haue quite benempt,
And my rude skonce haue aslackt,
So I cannot cunningly
Make an image to awake.
Ne the frostie lims of age,
Uncouth shape (mickle wonder)
To tread with them in equipage,
As quaint light- blearing eies,
Come my pen broken vnder,
Magick-spels such deuize.
But for this acknowledgment of age, I should not have dared to
put forward a hypothesis which received a rude shock many years ago.
This would have required a Thomas Edwards born about 1540, who
would have been at the date of publication of his poem about 53 years
of age. Not such a great age, but poets then thought it poetic to magnify
their age. I therefore paid attention to all of the name whom I found
mentioned at court after that date.
216 Thomas Edwards, Author of' Cephalus and Procris '
We all know of Richard Edwards, the collector, and chief contributor
to the Paradise of Dainty Devices. He describes himself in one of these
leaving with his father's blessing his home in Somersetshire (the county
of Sir Edward Dyer) a 'slender tall young man' seeking Court service.
He was the eldest of many brothers. His musical powers recommended
him first to Mary, then to Elizabeth. His poems given as a New Year's
gift to Mary (praise of her Maids of Honour) are described as by
' Edwards of the Chapel.' He appears in one of the Court Lists as
' Gentleman of the Privy Chamber1.' In this list he was associated with
a ' Thomas Edwards ' in 1558. Richard was made Master of the Children
of the Chapel Royal in 1561, and thereafter developed his dramatic
talents. He so delighted the Queen with his performance of Palamon
and Arcite at Oxford in September 1566, that she promised him a sub-
stantial reward. She was not prompt enough, and the poet died in the
following month. It is supposed he left no child. Nothing more is heard
of his reward unless we look for it in a strange coincidence. In December
of that year Thomas Edwards received a patent for the office of Vibrellator
or Gunner in the Tower. This was not a very important or responsible
office, but it was often granted as a sort of little pension to courtiers
who required some money-help. A similar grant was later made to
Richard Dyer. It is just possible the grant was given to Thomas as the
brother of Richard Edwards, as a remembrance of the promised reward.
It might be borne by any ' gentleman of the Privy Chamber.'
Perhaps I may record here my first great disappointment in writing
this paper. In the second year of Elizabeth I came upon a Thomas
Edwards enrolled among the ' Extraordinary Yeomen of the Guard.'
Here, I thought, was the very post for the author of this poem. I traced
his name year after year, hopefully, but found that he died on 10th
January 22nd Elizabeth. This is entered as ' By Certificate,' shewing
he did not die at his post, but at some distance (Dec. Ace. Treas. Chamb.
22 Eliz. Pipe Office 542).
There is no record of the gentleman of the Privy Chamber living,
and none of his dying. But the Vibrellator in the Tower did not die
then, which may be proved by each successive patent naming the holder
who preceded the patentee.
In the Envoy to Narcissus Edwards speaks of a distinguished noble
poet who ' differs much from men, Tilting under Frieries.' Mr Buckley
believes this to mean the dramatic poets who wrote for the Blackfriars,
but 1593 would be too late for the early Blackfriars, and too early for
1 Lansdowne MS. m, ff. 88, 89.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 217
Burbage's which was only bought in 1596. I found among the British
Museum MSS,1 an entry rather more illuminating, as Edwards seems
to speak only of non-dramatic poets. It is a list of 'The names of
such Lords and Officers as are lodged within the Court and the Friery
1573.' After describing those resident in Court, the MS. concludes: 'In
the*Friery2 are lodged the Lady Sydney, Mr Foskewe, the gentlemen
Ushers, Sir Henry Lee, Mr Dier, with many more whose names I know
not.' These two latter wrote verses, or ' tilted under Frieries ' then, and
might well have done so for the following 20 years. Thomas Edwards
might have been lodged beside them. There are two significant points
to remember. Sir Henry Lee was the Master of the Armoury, and had
instituted the annual jousts in memory of the Queen's accession. He
resigned his post on 17th November 1590, on which occasion Mr Hales,
one of the Queen's servants, sung in Sir Henry's name the verses ' My
golden locks time hath to silver turned.' The other point is, that,
desiring to fix if possible Richard Edwards' place of birth in Somerset-
shire, I went through the Subsidy Rolls of that county, for 14-15
Henry VIII, the year in which the dramatist is supposed to have been
born ; I came upon John Edwards, senior, and John Edwards, junior, and '
immediately before them the name of Henry Dier, in the hundred of
Carhampton, village of Allenford (169/168).
The only one of the university men collected by the Rev. Mr Buckley
who might have been the same as the Groom of the Chamber was the
Thomas who took the degree of B.C.L. at Cambridge in 1562 (no college
mentioned). Another and more likely one is Thomas Edwards of Mag-
dalen College, Oxford, described in 1562 as residing with someone in
the town. There was also a Thomas Edwards, christened on the 8th of
October 1560, in the Church of St Vedast, Foster Lane, but I can find
no further allusion to him. One more reference I have found which
seems to touch the true author of Cephalus and Procris, who may have
been any Thomas I have been tracing, except the Yeoman of the Guard.
Among the Loseley papers is a bundle of private family letters.
Queen Elizabeth highly favoured Sir William More of Loseley, and
was very fond of his daughter Elizabeth, probably h^r godchild. She
must have been about 40, when the Queen made her Lady-in- Wai ting.
She writes delightedly to her father about the kindness she received
from everybody. She was then Lady Woolley by her second marriage
to Sir John Woolley. Her father fell ill, she wanted to go and nurse
him, the Queen was very unwilling to let her go, but finally consented
1 Lansdowne xvm, 37. 2 Probably at St James' Palace.
218 Thomas Edwards, Author of ' Cephalus and Procris '
One of Lady Woolley's friends at Court wrote to tell her of the nice
things the Queen had said about her after she left, and that friend
signed himself 'Your most humble servant, Thomas Edwards. From
the Court, March 1594.' So here was a man of the name at the very
time Cephalus and Procris was coming out, living at Court, having
access to the Queen and able to repeat her conversation. He seemed to
me so likely to have been the author, that I looked no further. But
I did look for other poems. There had appeared in 1570 an epitaph on
the death of the Earl of Pembroke by Mr Edwards, which might have been
by him. There are two MS. poems in the Bodleian, good enough either
for Richard or Thomas Edwards ; the humour of them makes me almost
think them by the latter. They purport to be written by a saucy page
in a great house, subdued by a hopeless passion for his master's
daughter.
I. in 5 stanzas.
If all the goddes would now agree
to grauut the thing I would require
madame I pray you what judge ye
above all thinge I wold desire
in faithe no kingdome wold I crave
suche idle thoughte I never have....
but will you know what liketh me
madam, I wish your ffoole to be
II. in 7 stanzas.
The muses nyne that cradle rockte
wherein my noble mistresse laie
and all the graces then they flokte
soe joyfull of that happy daie....
No wonder then thoughe noble hartes
of sondrie sortes her loue dothe seeke
her will to wynne they play their partes
happie is he whom she shall like
to God yet is this my request
hym to have her that loves her best. finis qd Edwards.
Mr Buckley has printed these, but seems to have forgotten about
Richard Edwards. Now that I have fitted a Thomas Edwards into his
modest description of himself given above, we may go on to note his
description of those contemporaries he thought most worthy of notice.
Spenser is of course set first. Edwards treats each of his selected con-
temporaries under the name of the subject of his chief poem :
Collyn was a mighty swaine,
In his power all do flourish,
We are shepheards but in vaine,
There is but one tooke the charge,
By his toile we do nourish,
And by him are inlarg'd.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 219
He vnlockt Albions glorie
He 'twas told of Sidneys honor,
Only he of our stories,
Must be sung in greatest pride,
In an Eglogue he hath wonne her,
Fame and honor on his side.
In language neither clear nor musical he tries to point out, that
Spenser did not, as the other poets did, go abroad for his materials. He
found his subjects in English history and legend. He was the national
poet, preeminently in his Faerie Queene. He places Daniel second, a little
awkwardly, through using a woman's name for a man. Perhaps he means
a pun in the first two words :
Deale we not with Rosamond,
For the world our sawe will coate,
Amintas and Leander's gone,
Oh deere sonnes of stately kings,
Blessed be your nimble throats,
That so amorously could sing.
Here Amintas means Watson, and Leander, Marlowe. Hero and
Leander was the only one of the poems here mentioned which was
quoted by Shakespeare :
Dead Shepherd, now I find thy saw of might,
'Who ever loved that loved not at first sight.'
A s you Like it, in, 5.
The next whom Edwards names is Shakespeare :
Adon deafly masking thro,
Stately troupes rich conceited,
Shew'd he well deserued to,
Loue's delight on him to gaze,
And had not loue her selfe entreated,
Other nymphs had sent him baies.
Whether 'deafly' means 'deftly,' 'skilfully,' or 'without paying attention
to ' there is no doubt the words are intended as a compliment, and seem
to imply that Shakespeare was beautiful and charming to look at.
The next two stanzas contain the puzzle of the Envoy :
Eke in purple robes distaind,
Amid the center of this clime,
I haue heard say doth remaine,
One whose power floweth far,
That should haue been of our rime,
The only object and the Star. ^
Well could his bewitching pen
Done the Muses obiects to us,
Although he differs much from men,
Tilting under Frieries,
Yet his golden art might woo us
To haue honored him with baies.
At the time of the publication of this reprint Dr Furnivall asked all
the literary men of England 'who could be meant by this "center poet"?'
220 Thomas Edwards, Author of ' Cephalus and Procris '
No two of the answers agreed. Among the suggestions were Thomas
Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, the Earl of Essex, the Earl of Oxford, Sir
Robert Dudley, Drayton, Bacon, Fulke Greville. There is something
against each of these. The only man who seems to me possible, was
Ferdinando Lord Strange, sixth Earl of Derby. The family title of 'Derby '
was near enough the centre of England for a poet's geography. Edwards
did not know much about him, he might not know that he chiefly lived
at Lathom House ; he had only ' heard say ' of his literary talents, and
was fearful of offending him by giving him a name. His power flowed
far, he was king of the Isle of Man, many of the Catholics looked to
him as the true heir to the throne of England — through his mother
Margaret Clifford. Though many poets in England praised him, my
authority for my opinion is Nash's effusive panegyric at the close of
Piers Pennilesse, 1592, where he confesses that Lord Strange had given
him liberal money-help as well as encouragement. He blames Spenser
for not introducing him into the group of noblemen he praises at the
end of the first three books of the Faerie Queene :
Heere (heauenlie Spencer) I am most highlie to acuse thee.... The verie thought
of his far deriued discent & extraordinarie parts, wherewith he astonieth the world,
and drawes all harts to his loue should haue inspired thy forewearied Muse.
The only excuse he could find for Spenser was that he might be in-
tending some special honour for Ferdinando Stanley whom he called
'thrice noble Amintas.' The poet put off too long to follow Nash's advice.
Ferdinando had only succeeded his father on September 25th, 1593, he
died in April 1594. In Spenser's list of poets in Colin Clout's come home
again, 1595, he acknowledges:
There also is, (ah no, he is not now)
But since I said he is, he quite is gone,
Amyntas quite is gone and lies full low,
Hauing his Amaryllis left to mone
Amyntas floure of shepheards pride forlorne :
He whilest he lined was the noblest swaine,
That euer piped in an oaten quill :
Both did he other, which could pipe, maintaine,
And eke could pipe himselfe with passing skill.
This long digression seemed necessary here as no one else has brought
forward Stanley as the nobleman * who differed much from men, Tilting
under Frieries.'
The next stanza is clear :
He that gan vp to tilt,
Babels fresh remembrance,
Of the world's-wrack how 'twas spilt,
And a world of stories made,
In a catalogues semblance,
Hath alike the Muses staide.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 221
This means Joshua Silvester, ' the silver-tongued ' and his translation
of Du Bartas' Weeks and Workes, dedicated to Anthony Bacon 1593.
It is a pity Edwards did not give us a longer list. He winds up
with :
What remaines peerless men
That in Albions confines are,
But eterniz'd with the Pen
In sacred Poems and sweet Laies,
Should be sent to nations farre
The greatnes of faire Albion's praise.
I believe that after one more stanza he meant to conclude. The
last stanza but one is so discordant, that I fancy Wolfe must have written
• and inserted it himself. He did something, we have seen, to rouse the
wrath of his two critics at least :
And when all is done and past
Narcissus in another sort1
And gaier clothes shall be plas't
Eke perhaps in good plight,
In mean while He make report
Of your winnings that do write.
There are certain special relations between Edwards and Shakespeare
to notice. Both were pupils of Spenser in their different degrees. The
great poet's first poem was registered on April 18th, 1593, Edwards' first
poem six months later. We usually date the existence of Venus and
A donis from its registration. If we apply the same treatment to Edwards'
first poem, we find that he was the first to refer to Shakespeare as a
non-dramatic poet. Shakespeare was more fortunate in his printer, and
appeared in the same year. Edwards' poem somehow missed fire, and
is reckoned as of 1595, though written before. He does not mention
Shakespeare's Lucrece, 1594. He resembles Shakespeare in evidently
having a little grudge against Chapman, whose Shadow of Night did
not appear until that year. But it was probably handed round among
readers before that date. Edwards evidently had studied Shakespeare
closely. He makes Narcissus call upon Adonis to come and sit with him.
In Aurora's love-making to Cephalus he follows that of Venus to
Adonis effectively. Indeed it is notable both poets treated of the same
theme, chaste youths besieged by passionate women. Shakespeare shews
that Adonis had no time to think of Love, his heart being filled with
the pleasures and the glories of the chase. Edwards paints in Cephalus
the heart filled with his faithful love to his wedded wife ; in Narcissus,
the coldness arising from self-love.
1 Does this mean that Edwards meant to put it into dramatic form ?
222 Thomas Edwards, Author of ' Cephalus and Procris '
Shakespeare also was impressed by the story of Narcissus. In Venus
and Adonis (line 157) he says :
Narcissus so himself forsook
And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.
He also says in Lucrece (1. 266) :
And had Narcissus seen her as she stood
Self-love had never drowned him in the flood.
Again in Antony and Cleopatra, II, 5, he says :
Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me
Thou wouldst appear most ugly.
I think that his only allusion to Cephalus and Procris is in the
clown's play of Pyramus and Thisbe, Midsummers Night's Dream :
Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.
As Shafalus to Procrus I to you !
These allusions can hardly be taken as any reference to Edwards'
work, but as remembrances of the popular tales. Edwards also speaks
of ' Oberon.' But one point more. While Edwards was so generous to
other poets, none seems to have returned the compliment and praised
him. None, unless we find in his Master Spenser, whom he reverenced
so highly, some kindly recognition in return. I have reason to think we
can, and that words which I have all my life firmly believed to have
referred to Shakespeare, were really intended for Edwards. When
Spenser published his Colin Clout's come home again in 1595, he also
had a descriptive catalogue of poets included in it. Among these, he
writes:
And there, though last not least, is Action,
A gentler shepheard may no where be found :
Whose Muse, full of high thoughts invention,
Doth like himselfe Heroically sound.
Now, I think these lines suit Edwards better than Shakespeare. His
poem coming out in 1595, would be 'last' before Spenser printed his.
Shakespeare's had been published in 1593, and was not 'last' in any
aspect. Edwards was very gentle, or, at least, quarrelled with none in
print ; it was his Muse and not his name that was ' heroical,' his Muse
' full of high thought's invention, Doth like himself heroically sound.'
I have given suggestions of his language. I know nothing of his personal
appearance. But Spenser did. Apparently it also was heroical, and
'though last' he was 'not least.' Another panegyric of Spenser's suits
Shakespeare better.
The phrase ' Action ' haunted me. I felt sure there would be found
some relation to the man, if I could but find the Welsh meaning for
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES 223
' eagle-born.' I appealed to Mr Leonard Wharton the polyglot scholar.
He gave the clue I sought. The name of Snowdon in Welsh is Eryri,
which means the Eagle Mountain, the name of the Carnarvon range is
'The Eagle Hills.' Thomas Edwards bore a Welsh name, he might have
been descended from the Welsh family of the name, even if his father
had settled in Somerset. Or his father might have returned to Wales
before his younger son's birth. I am quite willing to give up any theory
to be able to find the truth. Elizabeth favoured Welshmen, and was
pleased to be reminded of her Welsh descent, and my last Thomas
Edwards evidently basked in her favour. One cannot help wondering if
he had any literary association with Fluellen, and if this ' Eagle-born '
poet was a friend of Shakespeare's too.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES.
LONDON.
POLITICAL PLAYS OF THE RESTORATION.
THE political and religious enthusiasm that reigned in the period of
the Restoration is possibly unrivalled throughout the whole of our
literary history. The writers were of the court or of the Parliament:
tlley were Catholics or they were Puritans: and they were enabled, as
/hey had not been previously, to express their thoughts with a certain
[amount of freedom on the subjects that lay near their hearts. No/
[book produced in England between 166CL and 1Q98 ^?an be understood!
without a reference, an£L~ full j^ferftr^f , tif> ^p course of political! •
events: tor ike religions p.nH pivil ppf.hn^>grr> pf t.he courts of Charles*
flT^ftf' .la.rnps was the intellectual aftermath of the emotions aroused
during thejgeriodj)f the Commonwealth, and still affected intimately
the social and the intellectual lite Trf-tii^T nation. In several branches
of literature this fact "Has" been noted, particularly in that of poetry,
but for the drama it has been more or less overlooked. Neither
historians nor literary critics seem to have realised the mass of material
which lies ready to their hands in the tragedies and the comedies of the
time. After eighteen years of repression the theatre had come to its
own again, and with a renewed energy authors had started to think
once more in the dialogue and scenical form. The theatrical writers
threw in political and contemporary reference with a free hand : while
other scribblers, who, in previous and succeeding ages, would probably
have written in prose or in couplets, put forward their ideas and their
satire in the form of plays which, even from their incipience, were
probably neVe^Fintended to be acted. All sorts of subjects were so
discussed, from the Worshipful Companies rfBrewers1. of Doctors2
and of Shoemakers; L to the Athenian Society4: but by rar the greatest
1 Pluto Furens & Vinctus:' or, The Raging Devil Bound. A Modern Farse. Per
Philocomicum. (Epistle Dedicatory signed « C. F.') Amstelodami, 1669.
2 Tom Brown: Physick lies a Bleeding: or, The Apothecary turned Doctor. A Comedy,
Acted every Day in most Apothecaries Shops in London (1697).
3 Hew son Reduced: or, The Shoemaker returned to his Trade. Being a Show, Wherein
is represented the Honesty, Inoffensiveness, and Ingenuity of that Profession, when 'tis kept
within its own Bounds, and goes not beyond the Last. Written by a true Friend to the
gentle Craft (1661). This ' show ' is directly aimed at Hewson, the regicide.
4 E. S(ettle?): The New Athenian Comedy, Containing the Politicks, Oeconomicks,
Tacticks, Crypticks, Apocalypticks, Stypticks, Scepticks, Pntumaticks, Theologicks, Poeticks,
Mathematicks , Sophisticks, Pragmaticks, Dogmaticks, etc., Of that most Learned Society
(1693).
ALLABDYCE NICOLL 225
Eterest is to be found in a number of plavs, dating variously from 1^9
about 1695. which deal entirely with political and religious questions,
d which, peculiarly enough, have remained, up till now, almost wholly
unread and unchronicled1.
The habit of writing pamphlets in fche form of jjlays was not novel to
the age of the Restoration; there had been political plays in Elizabeth's
time, and more than one appeared during the dictatorship of Cromwell,
usually without the names of the. author and of the publisher2: but
a real enthusiasm for political reference in dramatic form did not come
until the downfall of the Commonwealth with the arrival of Monk and
the subsequent return of Charles. It is this which, in this essay, I
propose briefly to discuss and to analyse. Ere entering into this subject,
however, one interesting fact may be noted, and that is, that while
internal political and religious movements are reflected widely and
largely in the theatre of the time, outside historical events, as distinct
from the evolution of politics or of religion, are touched upon hardly at
all. The reason for this is hard to seek, for public sentiment undoubtedly
was aroused over such matters as the foreign policy of Charles as
it related to France. Sufficient for us to notice, however, that, beyond
Jk few references in Prologue and in Epilogue, and with the exception
/of Dryden's horrible and cruel Amboyna: or, The Cruelties of the Dutch
J (Theatre Royal Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1673), no reflection of
I historical events is to be found in the drama. Even such internal cata-
strophes as the Fire and the Plague of 1665-6 passed almost unnoted.
Peculiarly enough, practically the only influence exerted by historical
events on the theatre, was that, at the time of the Dutch Wars, many
of the Cavaliers were reft away, and the Cavaliers were the main
supporters of the playhouses. Crowne, in his The History of Charles the
Eighth of France: or, The Invasion of Naples by the French (Dorset
Garden, 1671), laments that he is producing his play for a city audience,
but
1 Some of these, but not all, are mentioned, but not collated and criticised, by Gerard
Langbaine in An Account of the English Dramatic Poets (1691) and by the authors of
Biographia Dramatica (1812), a few by Genest in Some Account of theflnglish Stage (1830)
and a few by Sir A. W. Ward in his History of English Drama.
2 Among these Tyrannical Government Anatomized: or, A Discourse concerning Evil
Counsellors had appeared in J.642 : The Levelters-fievelFa : or, The Independents Conspiracy
to root out Monarchy (by, ' Mercurius Pragmaticus,' i.e. Marchmont Nedham) in 1647:
The Famous Tragedy of King Tllin.rl^l, New Market Fayrej or, A Parliamentary Outcry
of State Commodities set to Sale. Part I. Printed at You Ala u 40 Look and New Market
Fayre: or, Mrs Parliament's NeivJEigarjes. Part II. Written by the Man in the Moon in
1649. The Tragical Actors : or, The Marty rdome of the Tiifn fuiii^ ("/imfi' wherein Oliver's
late falsehood, with the rest of his gang are (sic) described in their several actions and
stations (N.D.) may also be previous to 1660.
M.L.R.XYT. 15
226 Political Plays of the Restoration
hopes he's safe, and if his Sense is low,
He can compound for 't with a Dance and Show1,
things likely to appeal to unsophisticated tradespeople. The following
year, in Marriage A-la-Mode (Theatre Royal Company at Lincoln's Inn
Fields, 1672), Dryden echoed the same cry2, and from his prologue we
gather that the city folks were treating the King's company worse than
the rival house. Even the actresses lost their loathing for mere mer-
chants and one bright damsel extended to the city men a charming
invitation in the Epilogue to Wycherley's The Gentleman Dancing-
Master (Dorset Garden, 1672),
. You good men o' th' Exchange, on whom alone
We must depend, when Sparks to Sea are gone ;
Into the Pit already you are come,
Tis but a Step more to our Tyring room ;
Where none of us but will be wondrous sweet
Upon an able Love of Lumber-street 3.
This, however, is all that we have to show for a forty years' period
Lof intrigue and of scheming foreign policy.
^*~ The political plays of the Restoration fall naturally into several
well-defined groups, in accordance with three great events in con-
temporary political history, events which profoundly stirred public
opinion. The first group to be discussed is that which was concerned
chiefly with the fall of the Commonwealth and the Restoration of
the Monarchy. It may be dated from c. 1660 to c. 1665J
During this first period of political enthusiasm the one thing that
the dramatists remembered was their erstwhile imprisonments and
whippings: to avenge which they turned the_Jask-of their scorn on
the Commonwealth and on all connected with it. The political plays
of the period commence with Tatham's The Rump: or, The Mirrour
of the Late Times (1659-60)4 and with A Phanatick Phrgr~Tfie' First
Part. As it was presented before and by the Lord Fleetwood, Sir Arthur
Hasilrig, Sir Henry Vane, the Lord Lambert and others, last Night, with
Master Jester and Master Pudding (1659-60)5. The latter is merely a
1 Prologue.
2 Prologue. Referring to the fact that ' our city friends ' would ' hardly come so far '
They can take up with Pleasures nearer Home.
And see gay Shows and gawdy Scenes elsewhere ;
For we presume they seldom come to hear.
The Duke's company, it must be remembered, had just then moved to their new theatre
in Dorset Garden, leaving the smaller house at Lincoln's Inn Fields to their rivals.
3 I.e. Lombard-street.
* This play was produced at Dorset Court. It was entered to J. and E. Bloome on 23rd
August, 1660. Pepys bought a copy of it in November.
6 This is dated in MS. as March, 1659 (i.e. 1659-60) in the Bodleian copy (Wood 615
(23)) . There was no second part.
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 227
six page pamphlet, but the former is a fairly well-wrought and readable
play. In it Lady Lambert's ambition and folly are quite well portrayed,
while some of the other characters are not ill drawn: In 1682 it
furnished the basis of Mrs Behn's The Roundheads1.
These two plays were speedily followed by others, of which Cromwell's
Conspiracy. A Tragy-Comedy. Relating to our latter Times. Beginning
at the Death of King Charles the First, And ending with the happy
Restauration of King Charles the Second. Written by a Person of
Quality appeared in 1660. This Person of Quality was evidently, a
scholar, for his whole play is plentifully scattered with mythological
references. Cromwell is made in it a thorough expert in the classics:
witness the following:
My fine facetious Devil,
Who wearst the Livery of the Stygian God
As the white Emblem of thy Innocence,
Hast thou prepaid a pithy formal Speech
Against the essence and the power of Kings?
/That when tomorrow all my Myrmidons
{Do meet on Onslow-heath,
[Like the Greek Exorcist, Renowned Calchas...
*By thy insinuating persuasive Art
Their Hearts may move like Reeds...2?
Nor are his followers to be beaten. Peters cries to him,
Most valiant and invincible Commander,
Whose name's as terrible to the Royallists,
As ere was Huniades to the Turks....
The Ancients fam'd Alcides for his Acts ;
Thou hast not slain but tane the Kingly Lion,
And like great Tamberlaine with his Bajazet,
Can?st render him within an Iron Cage,
A spectacle of Mirth3.
Even Lady Lambert is affected by the atmosphere around her.
1 You are as valliant my dear Sir,' she assures Oliver, ' In those soft
Scirmishes which Venus doth expect, as in those deeds of death which
Mars approves as Heroick in his Tents4.' This play, written in five
short acts, is very ambitious, for it traces the history of the Common-
wealth from Cromwell's seizure of power to the arrival of Monk, who, it
may be noted, in all Stuart drama of the age, is represented as a true
and glorious Cavalier, not as the time-server he really was. The
execution of Charles is introduced coram populo in Act II, scene iv:
Cromwell's intrigues with Lady Lambert are wrought out in Act ill:
1 Noticeable is the terrible Scots dialect of Lord Stoneware, a dialect that had already
appeared in Jocky and Billy, the two Scots beggars in Tatham's The Scots Figgaries: or,
A Knot of Knaves (1652) and in the Scots Mountebank of The Distracted State (1651,
written 1641).
a Act i, scene i. 3 Ib. 4 Act in.
15—2
228 Political Plays of the Restoration
in Act IV, scene i, is a high court of justice, followed in Act IV, scene v,
by the execution of Sir Henry Slingsby. In Act v, scene i, Cromwell is
discovered sick on his bed, Raving, his wife by him, and subsequently
dies : while Monk, after a wordy proclamation, appears in person at the
close (Act v, scene iii).
Reverting to earlier affairs, The Heroick-Lover : or, The Infanta
of Spain (1661) of George Cartwright, 'of Fullham Gent.1/ presents
a fictitious story which introduces a Polish king, who foolishly gives
much power into the hands of a Cardinal who, in his turn, extorts
money from the people. Zorates and Selucius plan a revolt and strive
to get the Admiral to join them. He, however, treats their proposals
with scorn:
Your Doctrine is of Devils : I fear to name
The words which you have utter'd, without shame.
That I shoo'd help, for to correct the King,
Were he the worst, of any living thing !
Or^were his Koyal soul, more black then Hell,
Far be't in me, such wickedness shoo'd dwell...
To us, who cannot judge of common things,
Does not belong the judgement of great Kings.
They shoo'd be like Stars, seated in the sky,
Far from our reach, though seeming near our eye2.
The Admiral probably is Hyde, the Cardinal evidently Laud, and
Zorates and Selucius most likely shadow the historical figures of Pym
and Hampden. The historical reference is largely intensified by the
verses appended at the close: Upon Hells High-Commission Court, set
to judge the King. Jan. 1648, and Upon the horrid and unheard of
Muriher, of Charles the First... the 30£/& of Janu., 1648.
In the same year, 1661, appeared two other anti-Puritan productions,
one, The Presbyterian Lash: or, Noctroff's Maid Whipt. A Tragy-
Comedy. As it was lately Acted in the Great Roome at the Pye Tavern
at Aldgate By Noctroffe the Priest, and Sever all of his parishoners at the
eating of a chine of Beefe. The first Part. London. Printed for the use
of Mr Noctroff's friends, and are to be sold at the Pye at Aldgate (1661),
and the other, Hells Higher Court of Justice: or, The TAall of The
Three Politick Ghosts, viz.: Oliver Cromwell, King of Sweden, and
Cardinal Mazarine (1661). The first of these, which may be by
Francis Kirkman3, is merely a satire in thirteen scenes on Zachary
Crofton, introducing numerous not unamusing hits at Puritans in the
bye-play. Among the dramatis personae occur 'Light, a Taylor' and
1 Cf. title-page.
2 Act n, scene iii. For similar sentiments see infra p. 241.
3 The Dedication is signed K.F., cf. MS. note in Bodleian copy (Malone 202).
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 229
'Forger, a Usurer,' 'two hot-headed Presbyters/ as well as 'Carp, a
Brewer ' and ' Denwall, a Joyner/ ' Churchwardens and Cavaliers.'
Hells Higher Court of Justice* is more ambitious. Besides the three
' Politick Ghosts ' mentioned in the title-page there is introduced all the
hierarchy of Hell, from Pluto, ' the Great Devil/ to Charon ' Ferry man
of Hell ' and Pug ' a little Devil.' The chief and most interesting figure,
however, is none of these but ' the Ghost of Machiavel,' repentant now
for all the evil he has wrought. ' Miserable me ! ' he cries,
How are men wise too late? too late consider?
Alas ! I thought that then my glory which
I now find my guilt2.
Cromwell is but Machiavelli redivivus and the play ends on a familiar
moral :
May all ambition cease, cursed ambition
The spawn of all imaginable sins,
And let all high flown spirits still remember
That whilst they Crowns and Septers strive to gain
They purchase to themselves eternal pain.
In 1663 and 1664 appeared other unacted plays of a political and
religious cast. The Unfortunate Usurper (1663) is an anonymous
production, confessedly political. ' Let Nevill,' says the Epilogue,
Let Nevill, Lambert, Vane, and all that Crew
To their usurping Power bid Adieu,
Those Meteors must vanish, Charles our Sun,
Having in England's Zodiack begun
His Course
True Monarchy's supported by our play.
On the whole, however, it is dull, and the political parallel does not
contain overmuch of interest. In the year following was issued a
similar 'tragedy' entitled The Ungrateful Favourite. Written by a
Person of Honour (1664)3, which centres mainly around the egotistical
scheming of Terrae Filius, 'an unknown person fancied by the Prince
for his rare parts and qualities, and by him advanced to highest
Dignities.' The plot is complicated by the timorous restlessness of
the old King, fearful of his son's popularity. About the same date, or a
trifle earlier, was issued A New Play Call'd The Pragmatical Jesuit
new-leverid. A Comedy (undated), written by Richard Carpenter, a
clergyman converted from the Roman to the English Church, a play
that leads us from the first group of anti-Puritan productions to the
anti-Catholic productions of a decade later. Carpenter's play has no
value whatsoever as a drama, and but little other interest attaches
1 Not Hell's High Court of Justice as it has hitherto been quoted.
2 Act i, scene i. 3 Licensed May 11, 1664.
230 Political Plays of the Restoration
to it. There is the obvious satire on priests, coupled with a few sly digs
at alchemy and alchemists, Galen junior, 'a Physitian ' and Agrippa,
'a Conjurer/ being introduced in person.
Apart from these plays, several more or less pertinent political
references occur in various acted dramas of the time, for even in 1663,
Dryden's allusions in The Wild Gallant (Theatre Royal in Bridges
Street, 1663) to 'the Rump Act1,' and to 'the Rump time2,' to the
' decimated Cavalier3/ and to the ' gude . Scotch Kivenant4' were by no
means out of date. The old members of the Sequestration Committee
and the hypocritical Puritans formed a fitting butt for the liberated
wits of the gay and reckless court poets of the time. It may be noted,
however, that not all the drajnajisis-saw only one side of the question.
Cowley, in Cutter ofColeman jtireet (Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1661)5,
besides ridiculing the (Jommon wealth men and women, in Fear-the-
Lord Barebottle and in Mistress Tabitha, saw fit to satirise the self-
styled captains and colonels among tiie (Javaliers, introducing for this
purpose the rascals Cutter and Worm. A similar pair, Bilkee and
Titftrp-TlVi this time 'the one usurping the name of a major, the other
of a captain/ appear in Wilson's The Cheats (Theatre Royal in Bridges
Street, 1662), and may take their origin from Cowley 's 'Hectors/ In
The Old Troop: or, Monsieur Raggou (Theatre Royal in Bridges Street,
1665) of Lac&Jbhe Cavalier troopers are made plunderers and rayishers.
the only excuse which the author makes for thembejjig^hat while they
have their faults enormity exists in the other camp. These, however,
are but stray expressions^' irTdividuai opinion and when Etheredge in
The Comical Revenge: or, Love in a Tiib (Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1664)
says of Sir Thomas-. Gully that he was 'one whom Oliver... has dis-
honoured with Knighthood/ and presents in Sir Frederick and others
of his Cavalier characters images of Restoration refinement, he was but
voicing the prevalent feeling of his caste. In any case, Lacy and Wilson
were by blood, if not by profession, allied to the side of the Parliament.
By far the best satire of the whole period, however,
mittee of Sir Robert Howard, "wnich madeits appearance at the
Theatre7 Royal in Vere Street iiTT562! In it the brother-in-law of
Dry den lashed with his scofll Llie Sequestration Com mi Urn .under
which so many Cavaliers had suffered. In^Mr and Mrs Day and Abel
he delineated with a enr^ nnd witty pen the hyrj^v?Qy attributed to so
1 Act i. 2 Act in, scene i.
3 Act n, scene i. 4 Act iv.
• This play was a new version of The Guardian, acted 1641. Its scene is ' London, in
the year 1658. '
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 231
many of the Puritan zealots: while in Colonels Blunt and Careless
he displayed the happy-go-lucky honesty that the more idealistic
followers of the Stuarts loved to fancy in themselves. The Committee
was an instant success, and in the character of 'Teg' or Teague,
Careless' Irish servant, Lacy, whom we have but now mentioned, won
an apparently deserved fame. This play was the last purely political
drama of the first period. Satire of Cromwell and of his satellites,
though it crops up occasionally later, palled after 1665. The Puritan
age, the continental exile, the Rump — all were forgotten, and we cannot
trace many references to these later than this date. Edward Howard
seems to have been about the last to make a ' political parallel ' relating
to the Commonwealth, when in The Usurper (Theatre Royal in Bridges
Street, 1664)1 he shadowed Cromwell under the disguise of Damocles,
Hugh Peters under that of Hugo de Petra, and, possibly, Monk under
that of Cleomenes2.
The second group of political plays may be dated 16*79-1685. We
have seen how in The Pragmatical Jesuit new-legend Carpenter had
aimed a blow at the Church of Rome. This play is a sort of prelude
to a fierce and wordy waj in the playhouses of London, for the
struggle between Catholic and Protestant is the*^Eeynote to this
period, as well in drama as in domestic history. Between the last
anti-Puritan plays of 1664/5 and 1679, with a single exception, only
one political play may be mentioned — and that is the anonymous
The Religious Rebell: or, The Pilgrim-Prince (1671). The scene is
Germany of the eleventh century and presents to us Hildebrand
(Gregory VII) as a self-seeking villain passing to the papal chair over a
sea of murder and poison. The political dramatists of 1679-1685 did
not for the most part go so far back in history: they took their
characters from living friars and from prominent Whigs of their own
time. If we seek for the source of their inspiration we shall find it
in the stirring events which were being enacted in the reign of the first
recalled Stuart. As has already been mentioned none of the dramatists
was affected by the intricate foreign policy which was being woven
during this period. Their attention centred on thre* problems which
were closely associated one with another, all of which were questions of
domestic policy. These concerned the Catholics, the Whig party and
Shaffcesbury. Even a **Hgtd^ apq^'n^n^e wit.li the events connected
with these suffices to showjthe abundant ^f nifjtfrial whi^h ^a-lying
1 Pepys saw this play on January 2nd, 1663/4.
2 Cf. Genest, Some Account of the English Stage, i, 72.
232 Political Plays of the Restoration
to hand for any dramatist on the search for subject matter of con-
temporary interest.
As far as the religious question goes, the plays may be divided into
two groups — those of the Court party, written mainly by Mrs Behn,
D'Urfey, and Banks, and those of the Protestants, supplied for the
most part by Settle, £|hHwp11i find Dryden. BifCeTness marks the utter-
ance of both. The Protestants led off with The Excommunicated Prince:
or, The False Pelique. A Tragedy. As it was Acted by His Holiness s
Servants. Being the Popish Plot in a Play. By Captain William Bedloe
(1679). This piece, which has been attributed to Thomas Walter, does
not deal with the subject implied in the title-page — indeed ' the Popish
Plot in a Play' appears to have been added by an enterprising but
unscrupulous publisher in order to excite interest and to augment his
sales. The whole is written in rhyme, but rhyme of such a character
that the author has to use as couplets within the first half-page such
pairs as ' now ' and ' know,' ' know ' and ' too,' ' shun ' and ' alone/ ' sooth '
and ' smooth,' ' hand ' and ' commend,' ' crown ' and ' one.' It is but a
poor piece of work, introducing Teimurazer a ' Prince of Georgia,
excommunicated by the Pope'; Morinus and Brizander, 'Friends to the
Prince, and Zealous for the establish't Keligion and Government,' and
Piazer, 'a Divine of the Grecian Church: A fierce Preacher and Writer
against the Papists, most unmercifully Murther'd by some of the Con-
spirators.' The plot is uninteresting, with the religious bias truly felt.
The year following appeared Settle's truly awful, but in a way
effective, The Female Prelate: Being the History of the Life and Death of
Pope Joan (Drury Lane, 1680)1. Dedicated to the Earl of Shaftesbury,
it drew a storm of enthusiasm from the Whigs, who contributed to
make it a success. The old discredited medieval legend is raked up by
the author in all its fulness. The plot is simple, but affords many
opportunities for anti-Catholic propaganda. Pope Joan, masquerading
as a man, falls in love with the Duke of Saxony, whose wife, Angeline,
is being tempted by the Pope's companion, Lorenzo. The married
couple remaining faithful to one another, both are thrown into prison.
There a fire, a favourite Restoration scenical device, occurs, and the
Pope, who had come in the dark to the Duke, and Lorenzo, who had
come to Angeline as her husband, are discovered. Angeline dies of
shame and a broken heart, while the Duke is ordered to be burnt. At
the critical juncture, however, Joan is publicly discovered and is hurried
off to torture and death. With all his Ford-like skill in horrors, Settle
1 Licensed Sept. 1680.
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 233
works up the lusts and cruelty that lay behind so much of the outward-
seeming piousness of the Roman, and particularly of the Jesuit, clergy.
In 1681 the battle was joined in earnest, the anti-Catholics producing
four plays and the anti- Whigs a couple. Of the former, The Spanish
Fryar: or, The Double Discovery (Dorset Garden, 1681) is by Dryden.
The satire in it is not very bitter, but the attack on priests was not
passed over silently, although, peculiarly enough, Charles himself
defended it against its detractors1.
Condemned also by the Court party as a satire on the clergy was the
Thyestes (Drury Lane, 1681) of Crowne, for even when the subject of a
play went back to ancient Grecian times, contemporary references and
parallels could be introduced. ' We shewed you,' says the Epilogue,
.We shewed you in the Priests today, a true
And perfect Picture of old Rome and new....
Thyestes, however, as a political and religious production, fades into
insignificance when we come to consider the anonymous Homes Follies :
or, The Amorous Fryars...As it was Lately Acted at a Person of
Qualities House (1681) and of Shadwell's well-known The Lancashire
Witches, and Tegue o Divelly The Irish Priest. Part the First (Dorset
Garden, 1681). The former of these is wholly concerned with the evils
of the Roman religion and deals with the amorous plots of priests
and Italian ladies. In it the Pope appears in person, along with the
ghosts of five of his predecessors. Poor Shadwell, on the other hand,
because he had not sensibly confined his satire to the Catholics,
but had applied his caustic brush to the character of Smerk, the
sneaking Church of England clergyman, as well, fell into disfavour with
both parties, and had a fair portion of his comedy eliminated by the
censor. Apart from this, Shadwell's play is interesting for the witchcraft
scenes and for the elaborate ' Notes upon the Magick ' appended to Acts
I, II and ill2. The best individual characters are those of Teague and
Smerk.
In the meantime had appeared Mrs Behn's The City Heiress: or, Sir
Timothy Treat-all (Dorset Garden, 1682) more indecent than was that
authoress' wont, and containing a very loyal attack ujfon all Common-
weal thmen and ' true blue Protestants ' of the Sir Timothy Treat-all
type. The plot itself is not a particularly brilliant or moral one, and
1 Dryden had previously indicated his contempt for the priesthood, notably in his
alteration of Troilus and Cressida, where Calchas, from being a ' priest ' is made a
'rascally rogue Priest' who is good for nothing but keeping a mistress and living
uxuriously on the fruits of his ' Coz'nage.'
2 See E. Amman, Analysis of Thomas ShadwelVs Lancashire witches (Bern, 1905).
234 Political Plays of the Restoration
certainly, if Mrs Behn intended us to admire Tom Wilding as con-
trasted with his uncle, she has not well succeeded. A man who seduces
a girl who loves him, passes her off in marriage when he has finished
with her to his best friend, and imposes a still older cast mistress of his
own on his uncle, may have been in the taste of the Restoration — he
assuredly is not in ours.
The other Court reply to the anti-Catholic slanders of Dryden and of
Settle was D'Urfey's Sir Barnaby Whigg: or, No Wit like a Woman's
(Dorset Garden, 1681). It is a purely party play in which Wilding,
Townly and Livia are contrasted with Sir Barnaby, a 'Phanatical Rascal,
one of Olivers Knights.'
1682 saw a turn in the tide. The Court party were now in the
ascendant. Dryden and Lee's The Duke of Guise (Drury Lane, 1682)
Xvas written in their favour, but seems to have been looked on du-
/biously by both parties. It certainly raised a tumult enough. Shadwell
/ and others commenced to attack it, and to those attacks Dryden replied
/ with The Vindication: or, The Parallel of the French Holy League and
the English League and Covenant. As a play it is fairly good, although
marred by the introduction of Melanax, a spirit, some devils, and
Malicorne, a sorcerer.
On the side of the Court, Mrs Behn again proved herself redoubtable,
for in 1682 appeared her rehashing of The Rump as The Round Heads:
or, The Good Old Cause (Dorset Garden, 1682) with many additions to
hit at recent events. The Prologue and the Epilogue openly show the
ultra-loyal, ultra-tory attitude adopted by this authoress, although the
play as a whole is too much of an adaptation to be considered as an
individual production.
A new writer, however, now moved into the political arena in the
person of John Banks, whose Vertue Betray d: or, Anna Bullen
appeared at Dorset Garden in 1682. The Prologue and the Epilogue,
it is true, are directed against political factions in plays, but the
development of the plot reveals the strong royalism of the author. The
play closes on a note of divine right :
A Prince can do no 111!...
For Heav'n ne're made a King, but made him just.
One anonymous comedy also was put forward to aid the opponents
of the Whigs, Mr Turbulent: or, The Melanchollicks (Dorset Garden,
1682), a play reissued three years later as The Factious Citizen: or,
The Melancholy Visioner (1685)1. Timothy Turbulent is 'one that
1 This fact has so far been overlooked. The second play alone is chronicled in
Biogrdphia Dramatica.
ALLABDYCE NICOLL 235
hates all sorts of Government and Governours, and is always railing
against the Times/ having as his creature one Rabsheka Sly, 'a private
Sinner, and Railer against the Times.' Abednego Suck-Thumb is the
' Melancholy Visioner ' and Priscilla, a Quaker. As may be realised, the
whole piece deals in vivid, if somewhat coarse, satire of the Whigs.
Crowne's The City Politiques (Drury Lane, 1683)1 appeared in the
following year. Practically wholly political, it yet weaves into the satiric
web the story of Florio's love for Rosaura, Paulo Camillo's wife, and of
Artall's for Lucinda, wife of Bartoline. General as the limning of Whig
tendencies is, the play, linking itself with a group later to be discussed,
springs from the impeachment of Shaftesbury, who is represented here
as Camillo, the old Podesta. Other characters too have been identified :
Bartoline, ' an old Counsellor ' who ' is very old, and very rich, and yet
follows the Term, as if he were to begin the World,' has been con-
jectured to be Sergeant Maynard or Aaron Smith, Dr Panchy to be
Titus Gates, and the Bricklayer to be Stephen Colledge, ' the Protestant
joiner,' who was brought to trial in 1682.
The whole controversy of this the second period of political dramatic
production ends with the year 1685, when appeared The Rampant
Alderman: or, News from the Exchange2, and Dryden's much more
ambitious opera entitled Albion and Albanins (Dorset Garden, 1685).
The first deals with an old Whig alderman, friend to * Doctor Oats ' who
' squeaks Sedition to him in the Coffee-House ' and to Doctor Olyfist, a
man who is outwitted in love and finance by the gay young Wilding and
the witty Cornelia. It was never acted. Dryden's play is not only more
interesting intrinsically but had a more exciting history. Written with
a heavy political bias for the Court (Dryden had by this time swung
round from his anti-Catholic opinions) it designed to trace in allegorical
wise the reign of Charles from the Restoration to the date of production.
It was so put on rehearsal: but, unfortunately for the laureate, Charles
died before its public performance, and Dryden was compelled to alter it
so as to introduce the character of Albanius, i.e. James. It was staged
at the Theatre Royal, probably on the 3rd of June, but ill-luck dogged
its footsteps. On the sixth night of production, June 13th, news of
Monmouth's landing came to London and the ill-fated thing was laid to
1 The date has long remained in doubt. A. W. Ward placed it as 1673: Biographia
Dramatica as 1675, Maidment and Logan as 1688. Genest's supposition of 1683 is in all
likelihood correct. The play appears in The Term Catalogues for May of that year (cf . The
Term Catalogues, ed. Arber, n, 17).
2 The Rampant Alderman was entered in the Stationers' Eegister on August 30th, 1684,
and is catalogued in The Term Catalogues in November of the same year ( The Term Cata-
logues, ed. Arber, n, 99).
236 Political Plays of the Restoration
an untimely rest1. The company, which had been to great expense about
scenery, lost, we are told, a considerable amount of money over it.
Allegorical as the whole is, it is comparatively easy to distinguish
the various figures. Albion is quite plainly Charles, and Albanius has
already been identified as James, while Archon is quite as evidently
Monk. The places too are given symbolical names: Augusta is London,
we are told in the list of persons: Thamesis is self-explanatory: Democracy
is the Republican Party: Zelota is 'Feign'd Zeal': Acacia, Innocence:
arid Asebia, ' Atheism, or Ungodliness.' It was certainly to be regretted
for Dry den's sake that so ingenious a plan after such a mighty coat-
turning, should have been unsuccessful.
Along with the general satire of the Whigs, as we have seen, went a
very particular satire of the leader of the Whigs, the Earl of Shaftesbury.
Already in 1674 Payne, in The Siege of Constantinople (Dorset Garden,
1674), seems to have been aiming at him in his character of the Chan-
cellor, and shows his opinion of him when he leaves him at the end
( Empal'd. Real, definite abuse,. however, did not start till Dryden pro-
l duced his Mr Limberham: or. The Kind Keepnr .at Dorset Garden in
\1678. In it he seems to have aimed at the prominent Whig leader
Y» the title character2., ™r %
For the sake of art, one political reference in the restoration drama
is to be deeply regretted, and that is the introduction of Antonio
(Shaftesbury again) into Otway's Venice Preserved: or, A Plot Dis-
oover'd (Dorset Garden, 1682). Antonio is an old weak sensual senator
(the counterpart of Mr Limberham) who loves Aquilina, the mistress o£
Pierre, and who is duly put to shame by the latter. In the same year
Shaftesbury was honoured by being placed in two other fairly well-known
plays, Southern's The Loyal Brother: or, The Persian Prince (Drury
Lane, 1682), and D'Urfey's The Royalist (Dorset Garden, 1682). Both
are bitterly anti-Whig in tendency. The first, which is a tragedy,
introduces Shaftesbury as Ismail and the Duke of York as Tachmas.
The latter is represented as the noble brother and loyal general, in the
end granted by his sovereign, Seliman, the head of Semanthe. As a
whole it is not a bad production, although in places one is inclined
to agree with the Epilogue:
Though Nonsense is a nauseous heavy Mass,
The Vehicle call'd Faction makes it pass.
The Royalist is a comedy, and seems to have been well received, although
1 Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, or, an Historical Review of the English Stage... (1708),
p. 55.
2 Cf . Ward, op. cit. in, 373. The satire was also applied to Lauderdale.
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 237
there is a hint to the contrary in the Preface1. Its scene is London
of Commonwealth times, in which members of the Sequestration
Committee make still another appearance. Again, for the ideals of
the time, Sir Oliver Old-Cut and Sir Charles Kinglove may be
contrasted. Grasping and weak-willed as the former is, he is not so
brutal or so heartless as the latter, who, although he has sworn the
most fervent vows to Phillida and has apparently meant them, sins with
the old man's wife, Camilla. In the dramas of the Restoration, the
Cavaliers assuredly were condemned out of their own mouths.
Just as from 1667-9 there had come a reaction in political senti-
ment, at least in so far as political sentiment was expressed in tragedy,
comedy or farce, so from the death of Charles to the advent of the
Revolution there is a serious gap — a gap, however, that led to an even
greater output than before.
The main body of theatrical pieces with a political bias centre,
naturally, around the defeat of James and the coming of William. It
follows inevitably that the questions which had been prominent in the
earlier period should still be the source of inspiration for dramatic
writers, since the policy of James was throughout his reign closely
bound up with the Catholic cause, while William was by the very
nature of events in active relationship with the Whig party.
Our old friend Crowne/ whom we last saw attacking the party of
Shaftesbury, opened the battle by producing in 1689 The English Frier:
or, The Town Sparks (Drury Lane, 1689), a severe satire on the Catholic
party. Its dedication to the Earl of Devonshire displays its political
tendency. In Lord Wiseman, Crowne presents his ideal of the strong
sane Englishman, Protestant and opposed to all the ' knavish tricks ' of
courtiers and priests. In Lord Stanley he shows the evils of temporising.
Lord Stanley is a Protestant, but, seeking advancement from the court,
he keeps in with Father Finical, a rascally Jesuit, ' Bishop in partibus
infidelium ' — a satirical portrait possibly aimed at John Leyburn, whom
Innocent had, at the advice of James, sent to England as Bishop of
Adrumetum. The most excellent scene of the whole comedy is that in
Act v, scene iii, where, with very perverse logic, this Father argues with
Pansy regarding the question of sin. Crowne, it may be remarked, may
have owed a trifle for his principal character to the Tartuffe of Moliere2:
while he, in turn, gave Gibber the basis of his later famous or infamous
N on- juror (Drury Lane, 1717).
1 Cf. Genest, Some Account of the English Stage (1830), i, 355.
2 Tartuffe had been translated by Medbourne in 1670.
238 Political Plays oftJie Restoration
Crowne's attack was followed up in 1690 by Shad well in The
Amorous Bigotte: with the Second Part of Tegue 0 Divelly (Drury Lane,
1690), in which he mingles satire of the Catholic priest with a story of
Spanish intrigue. Teague, like his brothers in faith, Father Dominick
and Father Finical, ends by being exposed before the audience in all his
rottenness. The Folly of Priestcraft (1690), an anonymous and unacted
comedy, appeared likewise in the same year, but beyond its general
attack upon the Church, deserves little attention.
Cruel, and largely unfair, satire of priests appears also in The Siege
and Surrender of Mons. A Tragi-Gomedy. Exposing the Villainy of the
Priests, and the Intrigues of the French (1691)1, which was answered the
same year by The Bragadocio: or, The Bawd turnd Puritan. A New
Comedy. By a Person of Quality (1691), in which is introduced the
character of Sir Popular Jealous, 'A Seditious Magistrate that Patronises
the People only to" serve his own ends of 'em/ the direct descendant of
Sir Barnaby Whig and Mr Turbulent.
The years 1690 to 1693, however, are richest by far in direct
theatrical reference to the stirring months of James's flight and Irish
defeat. The Banished Duke: or, The Tragedy of Infortunatus was
played in 1690 at Drury Lane.^It is a kind of political allegory, very
ninly disguised, aimed directly at the Catholics and the Stuart Court.
Romanus, King of Albion' is clearly James; 'Infortunatus, Nephew
o King Romanus, Banish'd for pretending Right to the Crown ' is
is evidently Monmouth. ' Petrus Impostor, a Jesuit, Father Confessor
o Queen Papissa' reveals Father Peters, while Papissa herself, 'a
Rigid Catholick, and Queen to King Romanus,' is Mary of evil fame.
Manlius Clericus, Chaplain in Ordinary to King Romanus,' in all
probability represents that Henry Compton, Bishop of London, who
was excluded from the Privy Council in 1686. The whole of this play is
written in rhyme, and the effect of all the elements of the older heroic
tragedy, when applied to . living, if allegorised, persons, is somewhat
ludicrous. Queen Papissa is just the old sensual, imperious empress
of evil who had appeared in Dryden and Settle twenty years previously.
' What plots of Wit/ she cries,
What Plots of Wit, and Stratagems of War,
In Brains quite void of Sence, do you prepare?
I am great Albion's stately head, and can
Out-wit the Projects of an Ancient Man.
Without your Aid I quickly will pull down
All Hereticks before my Royal Crown.
1 Licensed on April 23rd, 1691, and entered in The Term Catalogues for November,
1691 ^ed. Arber, n, 381).
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 239
My Subjects I will to Subjection bring ;
I'm their whole Queen, and will be half their King.
I'll wear Royal Breeches, and I'll make
(Throweth by her Gotvn, and sheiveth a Pair
of Scarlet Breeches.}
All Protestants to tremble and to quake.
And if Romanus you offended be,
I'll snatch the Sword and rule the Monarchy.
The Roman Church in Albion I'll advance,
I'll have but one Religion as in France :
I'll tame my stubborn Subjects till they know
The naming fury of a Popish Foe1.'
Following this, appeared four or five plays which it is just possible
were written by one man. The first of these is The Abdicated Prince:
or, The Adventures of Four Years. As it was lately Acted at the Court of
Alba Regalis By several Persons of Great Quality (1690). In this play
James appears under the less complimentary title of Cullydada, which
is a compound of Cully and Dadda. D'Adda, as we shall see, was papal
nuncio, and Cully, as defined in John Kersey's Dictionarium Anglo-
Brittanicum (1708), is ' Milk-Sop, one that may be easily led by the
Nose, or put upon.' ' Philodemus, Duke of Monumora' is Monmouth;
Hauteselia is Mary; Pietro is Father Peters. Barbarossa is probably
George Jeffries and Count Dadamore is quite plainly Ferdinand D'Adda,
who had come with the above-mentioned John Leyburn as acting, if
not titular, papal nuncio. This play, it may be remarked, is among the
few Restoration political dramas chronicled and described by Sir A. W.
Ward2.
By the same author confessedly was penned The Bloody Duke: or,
The Adventures for a Crown. As it was Acted at the Court of Alba
Regalis, By several Persons of Great Quality (1690), in which James
masquerades as ' Androgynes, King of Hungary.' Monmouth is Caligula,
his brother, while Remarquo, who is the only character common to both
plays, may be Halifax. It introduces, like the former, a vast amount of
Court gossip, but is not so intrinsically interesting.
From the style and printing3 one would be inclined to attribute The
Late Revolution: or, The Happy Change. As it was Acted throughout the
English Dominions in the Year 1688. Written by a Person of Quality
(1690), to the author of both the above pieces. Like trfem it is described
as a tragi-comedy: and one may note that it as well as The Abdicated
Prince is mentioned at the end of The Bloody Duke as one of the trio of
1 Act i, scene ii. 2 Op. cit. in, 294s.
3 All employed black letter frequently as well as italics. The Abdicated Prince, The
Bloody Duke and The Late Revolution were all entered together in The Term Catalogues,
May 1690 (ed. Arber, n, 313).
240 Political Plays of the Restoration
dramas giving ' a full Account of the private Intrigues of the Two last
Reigns.' The characters of The Late Revolution are simpler than those of
the two preceding plays. Among the men, Father Peters, who appears
in person, alone has historical significance. Among his companions are
' 2 Popish Lords/ and ' Two Noble Lords, true Protestants, and good
Englishmen! The entire female caste consists of ' Popish Ladys, Celiers,
the Popish Midwife ' and ' Several Popish Whores/ Its plot deals
mainly with the coming of the Prince of Orange as reflected in Catholic
circles, and there is presented in Act v, scene vii, an interesting scene
wherein Hot-Head, ' an Old Cavaleer,' and Friend Testimony, ' a Parlia-
ment-Officer,' meet to swear friendship — symbolical of the decay of the
old Cromwellian disputes, and of the formation of new parties. The
Prologue is also interesting as it is addressed to the players and attacks
them for their Stuart sentiments, with special reference to the then
recent production of Dryden's Don Sebastian, King of Portugal (Drury
Lane, 1690):
Which abdicated Laureat brings
In praise of Abdicated Kings.
In The Royal Voyage: or, The Irish Expedition. Acted in the Years
1689 and 90 (1690), likewise a tragi-comedy, the old black letter is
replaced by ordinary capitals, but again similarity of style and construc-
tion connects it with the author of The Abdicated Prince. 'The End of
this Play/ says the Preface to the Reader, 'is chiefly to expose the
Perfidious, Base, Cowardly, Bloody Nature of the Irish, both in this and
all past Ages/ As might be expected, it is a very brutal and ugly play,
ridiculous were it not that in its time it might have been believed.
The Royal Flight: or, The Conquest of Ireland (1690), on the other
hand, is ' A New Farce ' introducing King James and the Irish leaders
in person. The best scene is that of Act I, scene iv, wherein is introduced
' Hall the Jesuit, and a Rabble of Priests, one carrying the Host and
another Tinkling a Little Bell before 'em.'
1st Priest: Mater Apostolorum, ora pro nobis (singing}.
2nd Priest: (whispering to his companion) — S'life joy make a great haste — for by
ray Shoule, joy, I have promis'd a Dear Joy to meet her by Twelve of the Clock.
1st Priest : By my Shoule, I'm in thy Condition — Audi preces Nostras pro Domino
Nostro Jacobo-bo — .
Towards the close of this theatrical pamphleteering came, in 1693,
The Royal Cuckold: or, Great Bastard: Giving an Account of the Birth
and Pedigree of Lewis Le Grand, the First French King of that name and
Race. As it is Acted by his. Imperial Majesty's Servants at the Amphi-
theater in Vienna, translated out of the German Language, by Paid
ALLARDYCE NICOLL 241
Ver germs. This, taken from a contemporary Secret History of Lewis the
Fourteenth1 and written mostly in prose, carries us back again to the
events of 1688. ' Clodius Capo, the King of France' is James once
more : ' Orlinus Brother to Capo, and Apparent Heir to the Crown
is Monmouth, and ' Pedro Marcellus, Father Confessor to the Queen ' is
Father Peters. It is taken up almost entirely with the amorous and
political intrigues of the Queen and with the birth of a bastard Prince
of Wales. The additional information given on the title-page regarding
its source and origin is, needless to say, spurious.
On the advent of William several of the dramatists were sufficiently
temporising to fall in with the spirit of the times and court the new
monarch fulsomely. Others, however, like their predecessors of the past
two or three decades could not forget their ultra-monarchical sentiments
so soon, and still craved for the full expression of the doctrine of divine
right. Just as Crowne had cried in 1671:
Make him know it is a safer thing
To blaspheme Heav'n, then to depose a King,
and
Titles of Kings are mysteries too high
Above the reach of ev'ry vulgar eye2,
just as in 1674 Settle had declared that
he that's absolute, and depends on none,
Is above Terrour : and that Right alone
Belongs to Kings. The life of Majesty,
But one unalterable Scene should be,
Unmov'd by storms, a walk of State, untrod
By all but Kings, and boundless as a God3,
p just as in 1675 Lee thought that
Kings, though they err, should never be arraign'd4,
so Mountford, in 1688, showed how concerned he was over the tendencies
of the times. In his The Injured Lovers: or, The Ambitious Father
(Drury Lane, 1688) Antelina, having been deflowered by the King,
poisons him, whereupon her lover grows duly anxious :
Rheus: The Action troubles me, although I cannot live
To see the Event : I wish thy sufferings may quit
Thy Crimes, for Heaven has great regard tf Princes.
Antelina: And has it none for injured Subjects think you?
Rheus: Not when they offer to Revenge themselves5.
1 See Gildon's edition of Langbaine, p. 167.
2 The History of Charles the Eighth of France, or, The Invasion of Naples by the
French (Dorset Garden, 1671), Act i, scene i.
3 The Conquest of China, By the Tartars (Drury Lane, 1674), Act n.
4 Sophonisba: or, Hannibal's Overthrow (Drury Lane, 1675), Act in.
5 Act v.
M.L.R. XVI. 16
242 Political Plays of the Restoration
A similar episode occurs in The Conquest of Spain (Haymarket, 1705)
by Mrs Pix, where Juliano, told by his fiancee, Jacinta, that she has
been ravished by the King, cries out:
Saidst thou the King? Then all revenge is lost,
And we must bear our heavy load of shame :
Tamely as cowards I must bear this wrong :
Nor once attempt to wash thy Stains in Blood1 —
reminiscences of Restoration Court enthusiasm in the reign of Anne.
The tendency, however, aided by the sentimentalism so rapidly
gaining way in the last decade of the seventeenth century and in the
first of the eighteenth, was to support the limited monarchy of William.
The union of the two sentiments is well seen in D'Urfey's comedy
of Love for Money: or, The Boarding School (Drury Lane, 1691), which,
one of the precursors of sentimentalism, is violently Williamite in
politics. Crowne, likewise, continued to remain what he had become in
1^89 — an anti-Catholic and anti- Jacobite. In the Dedication of his
Caligula (Drury Lane, 1698) to the Earl of Rumney, he eulogises in no
mean terms the Revolution. This tendency in the age was no doubt
intensified as William settled down to government, and particularly
after the abortive Assassination Plot of 1696, which latter event is seen
reflected in Dennis's comedy of A Plot and no Plot (Drury Lane, 1697),
which is directed openly against the Jacobites. In no copy of it,
however, which I have consulted, is there printed either of the sub-
titles mentioned by Sir A. W. Ward, 'Or Jacobite Credulity2/ or
4 Jacobite Cruelty3.'
Many of the unacted plays mentioned here are worthless as
specimens of literature; many even of those actually produced in the
playhouses are unworthy of regard. Yet the theatre, more than any
other form of artistic expression, is the reflection of an age: and no less"
/ than the Comedy of Manners or the Heroic Tragedy, do these political
/ plays, of which I have endeavoured to give a very brief account, present
to us in little the feelings that were aroused in the nation by the bitter
\ struggle between Catholics and Protestants, between Whigs and Tories,
Ybetween King and Parliament, for religious arid political supremacy.
ALLARDYCE NICOLL.
LONDON.
1 Act in. 2 Ward, op. cit. in, 426.
3 Ward, op. cit. in, 295, n. 6.
THE HUMANISM OF FRANCIS JEFFREY.
SINCE 1894 Francis Jeffrey has been twice edited in selections in
England and once in America, and in the same period he has been
anatomized by a Harvard professor and by a Berlin seeker for the 'Doktor-
wiirde.' By different ways all of the operators have ended in agreement
with Professor Saintsbury that Jeffrey is underestimated, or, as one
puts it, that modern neglect of him ' will never do.' Satisfied with that
compliment, they have forsaken Jeffrey's relation to the larger move-
ment of nineteenth-century literature to explain the peculiar nature,
and limitations, of his judicial outlook on books. This is damning a
critic with faint praise, and it promises to bring Jeffrey into neglect
much more profound than that in which he has rested since Coleridge
attacked him in the Biographia, and Carlyle dismissed him in the
Reminiscences with the twice-incised stigma of being ' not a deep man.'
The new criticism of Jeffrey and the old meet in the quotation by
several recent editors of Lamb's thrust at 'the Caledonian intellect'
which wrote about literature in the same way that it 'addressed twelve
men on a jury.' Lamb showed the way to twentieth-century students
in that happy fling at the Edinburgh reviews, thrown off in a smiling
digression, and nothing really material has been said since. The emphasis
is just where Lamb put it.
Jeffrey was the Platonist of nineteenth-century criticism, and that
is all his claim to a present hearing. It is no part of my purpose to
prove a Platonic 'influence' on Jeffrey, although that might not be
impossible. The Dialogues, and especially the Republic, were a large
part of the wide, desultory reading which brought him to a final
resolution of his doubts in the long struggle with himself in Edinburgh
between 1793 and the establishment of the Review ten years later1. In
later life Plato was the ancient writer most often named in his letter*
Carlyle tells us that mysticism was a word with which Jeffrey had no
patience, and it was surely with that shibboleth that he condemned
Wordsworth, but he recognized a kind of mysticism in the Platonic
1 In a letter to Kobert Morehead, November 26, 1796, he speaks of himself as reading
at random ' letters from Scandinavia, a collection of curious observations upon Africa,
Asia, and America, a book of old travel and an absurd French romance, Plato's Republic,
and I don't know what besides.'
16—2
244 The Humanism of Francis Jeffrey
dialogues of which he always spoke with ardour. In a letter written in
18411 he mentions 'a paper about enthusiasm' by his friend Stephens,
and adds, ' I cannot find anyone to like it except myself. But it certainly
suits my idiosyncrasy (what do you think that is now ?) singularly ; and
I am sure it is more like Plato, both in its lofty mysticism, and its sweet
and elegant style, than anything of modern date.' All through his life
the Platonic 'sweetness and elegance' of style was a delight and torment
to Jeffrey. In the early letters from Oxford to his sister, preserved in
Lord Cockburn's Life, letters full of boyish confidences about ambitions
and disappointments, he talks of a determination to bring English prose
back to a standard of delicacy and force which it had once almost reached,
though not quite, in Addison's hands. Later he was to realize that
Addison's ' flatness ' fell far short of his ideal and to discover that no
eighteenth-century man, and indeed no writer of prose in any period of
English literature, altogether satisfied him. The untranslatable things
in the Platonic Dialogues seem to have bewitched Jeffrey, though he
was not a person subject to enchantments, and to have made him a very
acute critic of prose, capable of vast enthusiasm over some specimens of
it, but never quite able to forget that
...he on honey-dew had fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Many have done lip-service to Plato's style, and English poetry, and
even English criticism, have had several practitioners who have called
themselves Platonists, but Jeffrey stands alone as the one man who
accepted the final deliverance against poets in the Republic in just the
way that it was intended to be understood. He never said anything
about it, and he may not have been aware that he was a disciple, but
his influence and originality as a critic were both due to his loyal faith
to Plato's creed. ' What shall we do,' Plato asked, ' with a poet able by
his genius, as he chooses, to become all things, or all persons, in turn,
and able to transform us too into all things and persons in turn, as we
choose, with a fluidity, a versatility of humour almost equal to his own?'
And Jeffrey had no difficulty in answering with Plato that we, ' if he
came to our city with his works, his poems, wishing to make an ex-
hibition of them, should certainly do him reverence as an object sacred,
wonderful, delightful, but should not let him stay. We should tell him
that there neither is, nor may be, any one like that among us, and so
send him on his way to some other city, having anointed his head with
myrrh and crowned him with a garland of wool, as something in himself
1 To Mrs Charles Innes, March 25, 1841.
MERRITT Y. HUGHES 245
half divine, and for ourselves we should make use of some more austere
and less pleasing sort of poet, for his practical uses1.' Platonism of this
kind is a liberal creed, although it has had a reputation for bigotry in
England ever since Gosson invoked it amiss and called down Sidney's
classic answer to its Puritan misapplication. From Sidney to Jeffrey
it remained in abeyance. Perhaps without realizing the resemblance of
his own general point of view to that of the Republic, or the extent to
which the logical and ethical outlook of the Dialogues had influenced
him, Jeffrey assumed Plato's position, and in that was his originality as
a critic. The force of that originality is only beginning to be appraised.
It condemned Jeffrey to be a lover of minor writers, and to acrimonious
warfare with some of the great ones. Unfortunately, he never learned
to dismiss the great poets out of his commonwealth with their heads
anointed with myrrh and crowned with a garland of wool.
To be wise, and eke to love,
Is hardly given to gods above.
Jeffrey chose to be wise, and was seldom more than dimly aware that
the poets whom he exiled from his modern Lacedaemon in the England
of the Industrial Revolution were ' something half divine.'
Herr Keisner's dissertation2, already mentioned, devotes its space to
a brilliant analysis of the sources of neo-classic and romantic thought
woven into the Edinburgh criticism, and he is especially complete and
suggestive in his pursuit of the origins of some of Jeffrey's ideas in the
eighteenth century. The result of his study is to reveal more strikingly
than ever the range and freedom of Jeffrey's eclecticism. The intro-
ductions to the selections from his essays by Professor Nichol Smith
and Lewis E. Gates3 point out the nice balance between his obligations
to eighteenth and to nineteenth century thought, and in large outline
they indicate the scope of his debt, which began with Addison and
ended with Alison, while it could make room for Hazlitt, and in spite
of a rather provincial cast, borrowed heavily from Mme De Stael and
may even be suspected of having once or twice extended to A. W.
Schlegel. Coleridge was the first to deny bluntly that any principle lay
behind that eclecticism, and most writers since have folfbwed Carlyle in
the opinion that Jeffrey's thinking lacked a pole. To the men of his own
generation he always remained a superior literary hack, and his letters
prove that even to himself he rose above that rank only very rarely.
1 Pater's paraphrase, Plato and Platonism, p. 249. 2 Berlin, 1908.
3 Selections from the Essays of Francis Jeffrey, by Lewis E. Gates. Ginn & Co., Boston,
Massachusetts, 1894.
246 The Humanism of Francis Jeffrey
Carlyle's account of him in the all-night conversations at Craigcrook
when he used to discuss so many subjects easily, fully, shrewdly, but
never * earnestly, though sometimes there was a look in his eyes as if
he would have been earnest,' has left an impression of him as a clever
man, and 'a veracious little gentleman,' but no thinker. And so his
reviews are usually thought of as a cento of neo-classical conservatism
and contemporary confusion in matters of taste, but uninformed by any
kind of coherent principle, or strongly original purpose. The truth is
just the reverse of that impression, as Jeffrey himself would have been
prompt to admit. Really a very simple principle inspired his criticism,
and for want of a better name, it might as well be called Platonism ;
Platonism with the peculiar twist that Jeffrey gave to it.
Summing up his opinions of his work in the preface to the collected
Edinburgh essays in 1850, Jeffrey wrote briefly in defence of his own
originality, and made his regular claim to a place among English critics.
The sentences are formal and repellent ; there is none of the intimate,
spontaneous glow about them which sometimes glimmers for a moment
in the best passages in the essays, and often amounts to real charm in
his letters. But perhaps no less weight should be attached to them for
all their coldness. The essential part of them is this :
If I might be permitted farther to state, in what particular department, and
generally, on account of what, I should wish to claim a share of those merits (i.e. of
the honours of a contributor to the development of criticism), I should certainly
say, that it was by having constantly endeavoured to combine Ethical precepts
with Literary Criticism, and earnestly sought to impress my readers with a sense,
both of the close connection between sound intellectual attainments and the higher
elements of Duty and Enjoyment ; and of the just and ultimate subordination of
the former to the latter. The praise in short to which I aspire, and to merit which
I am conscious that my efforts were most constantly directed, is, that I have, more
uniformly and earnestly than any preceding critic, made the Moral tendencies of
the works under consideration a leading subject of discussion.
The quotation might be paralleled by citing several passages from
the Essays themselves1, but it is hardly necessary, for the sentences
quoted are the best key to the varied problem of Jeffrey's mind ; to its
bold eclecticism, a quality in which it is of real, if distant, kin to Plato's,
to its limited sympathy with contemporary writers, and to the insight
from which the permanent value of its work arises. The weaknesses of
his criticism are all those incident to a too narrowly, and, if the truth
be told, somewhat conventionally and sentimentally, limited ethical
standard. I do not wish to deal with details of Jeffrey's criticism in
this paper, much less to burn my fingers in the controversy over the
' war with the Lakers,' but I should like to suggest that Jeffrey has
1 Edinburgh Review, xxxiv, 349, vm, 465 and xvi, 215.
MERRITT Y. HUGHES 247
paid a rather heavy penalty for betting on the wrong horse in that
business, and that while he did not do justice to. one side of Words-
worth's genius, he laid the foundation for some of the most discriminating
criticism of his poetry that has since been produced. In the midst of it
all Jeffrey was probably less an anti-Wordsworthian than he seemed. In
1804 he could write of him to Homer :
...I am almost as great an admirer as Sharpe. The only difference is that I have
a sort of consciousness that admirers are ridiculous, and therefore I laugh at almost
everything that I admire, or at least let other people laugh at it without contra-
diction. You must be in earnest when you approve, and have yet to learn that
everything has a respectable and a deridable aspect1.
The modern reader can follow Jeffrey's dogged persecution of Words-
worth with considerable satisfaction, even when he finds it appearing
a little disingenuously under colour of praise of Byron or Crabbe. It is
all honest, clear-eyed criticism; and it all springs from a conviction that
Wordsworth was confounding life's plainest distinctions in the mystical
mist with which he had surrounded himself for years in the solitude of
the Cumberland hills. In a moment, I hope to give some reason for
suspecting that whatever rancour there may have been in Jeffrey's
attack may be at least partly explicable by an even bitterer conflict
going on within himself. A student of Jeffrey who hopes to raise his
standing among English critics knows that he has more serious flaws
in his work to explain than the mistake about the ' Lakers.' They all
go back at last to that essentially ethical outlook on literature, and
the worst of them are to be traced to the sentimental cast which that
outlook happened to take in him.
There is no mistake in the Republic about the cost of its point of
view. If truth is not beauty, nor beauty truth, and you choose truth,
you cannot avoid the consequence that some beauty must be sacrificed,
and it is likely to prove to be the very purest sort of beauty that you
must give up, the sort, that is, which is produced by art whose chief
interest is in its own perfection. Jeffrey was never quite clear about
this point. Admitting a difference between the most edifying and the
most beautiful art, Jeffrey was always on the side of the former, but
he was not always willing to acknowledge a difference tn theory which
in practice he often pushed almost to the point of exaggeration. After
more than twenty years of reviewing, he would blandly deny any such
difference in language like this :
Poetry's power of delighting is founded chiefly on its moral energies, and the
highest interest it excites has always rested on the representation of noble senti-
1 Letter to Francis Homer, September 3, 1804.
248 The Humanism of Francis Jeffrey
ments and amiable affections, or in deterring pictures of the agonies arising from
ungoverned passions1.
From which it followed as the day the night that Rogers and Campbell
were the first poets of their time. The trouble with Jeffrey was that
he never thought strenuously through the problem of the conflict
between the ethical requirements of the lives of the people for whom
he wrote and the purpose of the artist struggling to make that union
of imagery and truth which Doctor Johnson said constitutes poetry.
The conflict is one of the differences between the insight of poetry
and the dimness of the ethical level of every day, where conventions,
sophistries, and sentimentality are the only guides that even the best
of us can often find. Jeffrey was well launched on the course to a
workable solution of the difficulty in the first clause of the sentence
quoted, ' Poetry's power of delighting is founded chiefly on its moral
energies/ but that was an accident. He meant what he said much more
when he came to talk of the 'amiable affections' and 'deterring pictures.'
He can even talk about Aristotle's Tragic Katharsis in terms of ' deter-
ring pictures,' and see an example of it in Gertrude of Wyoming.
But it is not for his opinion of Rogers and Campbell that we re-
member Jeffrey, and in spite of it we are not able to forget him. We
remember him for the solid qualities in the ethical standard that he
applied to criticism, and for the independence and originality with which
he worked it out. It was built around a very distinct and positive ideal
of character. Reflections of it flash in the essays. Beginning his analysis
of Benjamin Franklin's character, he writes :
No individual, perhaps, ever possessed a juster understanding ; or was so seldom
obstructed in the use of it, by indolence, enthusiasm, or authority2.
No one has accused Jeffrey himself of indolence, or enthusiasm, in the
reproachful sense in which he thought of enthusiasm, and so far as
established ideas and conventions, and even consistency with himself,
were concerned, no one can charge him with having let his thinking be
obstructed by authority. In middle life he remarked in a letter that
he supposed that there was not a man of his age and condition in
Scotland with so few fixed opinions, and he thanked Heaven for it.
No traditional explanation of Jeffrey is possible. He looked for a guide
to conduct outside 6f conventional canons, and found it in c a capacity
of patient and persevering thought — displaying itself, for the most part,
in a sober and robust understanding, and a reasonable, principled, and
inflexible morality3.' He asked for nothing except to see life steadily
1 Edinburgh Review, xxxiv, 349. 2 lUd., i, 138.
3 Selections from the Essays of Francis Jeffrey, by Lewis E. Gates, p. 180.
MERRITT Y. HUGHES 249
and see it whole, and he was willing to live and contrived to be happy
in its monotony. He interrupts one of the letters from which, when
they were to intimates, the smile seldom disappears, to say :
Having long set my standard of human felicity at a very moderate pitch, and
persuaded myself that men are considerably lower than the angels, I am not much
given to discontent, and am sufficiently sensible that many things that appear to
be and are irksome and vexatious are necessary to help life along1.
That was the outlook on life which won Jeffrey so many friends, and it
was the standard applied to books which made him so many enemies in
the romantic generation. It was the quality which, in the beginning of
their acquaintance, drew Carlyle to him, and at last turned the balance
against him, where it clearly rests in the chapter that bears his name
in the Reminiscences. Jeffrey's fine, smiling realism and the dry light
of his mind Carlyle could not away with, so he called the critic, not too
inaptly, the Scotch Voltaire, and left him to carry the weight of that
condemnation as best he could.
Jeffrey's ethical position contrasted with that of almost every im-
portant writer of his time in being an uncompromising dualism. The
problem was one of self-limitation, discipline of the imagination, and
subjection of the individual will to the conditions of life in society
and sympathetic participation in the affairs of all sorts and conditions
of men. He reached this position only after a long struggle. From
about 1793 until not long before the Edinburgh was founded, he was
swept away by the tendency to self-absorption and isolation in in-
tellectual pursuits which marked the period. We find him writing to
his sister from Oxford in 1791 that he has ' a boundless ambition ' but
feels that 'he can never be a great man, unless it be as a poet2'; telling
his friend Robert Morehead about his poetical ambitions in 1795, when
they had taken the form of ' a translation of Apollonius Argos in Cooper's
manner3'; and writing to George Bell late in 1796, in praise of the
ivory tower:
Nothing can be more ridiculous than the way that men live together in society,
and the patience with which they submit to the needless and perpetual restraint
that they occasion one another ; and the worst of it is that it spoils them for any-
thing better and makes a gregarious animal of a rational being4.
A month later Jeffrey had begun to move toward the position which
he held through life and from which he did his most characteristic
critical work. On the day after Christmas, 1796, he wrote to Morehead
of 'beginning to weary of (himself), and to take up a contemptible
1 To Charles Wilkes, May 9, 1818. 2 Oct. 25, 1791.
s Dec. 22, 1795. •* Oct. 7, 1796.
250 The Humanism of Francis Jeffrey
notion of solitary employments.' The change amounted to a conversion,
though it had none of the suddenness of miracles, and it seems to have
been remarkably unpleasant for a process which turned a melancholy
young man into one of the most equably contented and large-hearted
persons who ever lived. In 1798 he writes to Morehead :
I shall never arrive at any eminence in this new character ; and have glimpses
and retrospective snatches of my former self, so frequent and so lively, that I shall
never be wholly estranged from it, nor more than half the thing I seem to be
driving at. Within these few days I have been more perfectly restored to my
poesies and my sentimentalities than I had been for many months before. I walk
out every day alone, and as I wander by the sunny sea, or over the green and
solitary rocks of Arthur's Seat, I feel as if I had escaped from scenes of im-
pertinence, and recollect, with some degree of enthusiasm, the wild walks and eager
conversations we used to take together at Herbertshire about four years ago. I am
still capable of going back to those feelings, and would seek my happiness, I think,
in their indulgence, if my circumstances would let me. As it is, I shall go on
sophisticating and perverting myself until I am absolutely good for nothing1.
By this time the undercurrent had set steadily toward the position that
Jeffrey held throughout all of the period when he was editor of the
Edinburgh. Acceptance of the facts of life and self-discipline to enjoy
and control them had become his aesthetic creed when, in 1811, he
reviewed Alison's Essay on the Principles of Taste. ' If beauty consist
in reflections of our affections and sympathies,' he wrote then, ' it is
plain that he will always see the most beauty whose affections are the
warmest and the most exercised — whose imagination is the most powerful,
and who has most accustomed himself to attend to the objects by which
he is surrounded.... It will follow pretty exactly too, that all men's per-
ceptions of beauty will be nearly in proportion to the degree of social
sympathy and sensibility' that they possess. Jeffrey clung to that view,
regretfully sometimes, as he did in the Essay on Burns2, where he gave
up his whole introduction to speculating on ' The partiality which has
led poetry to choose almost all of her prime favorites among the recluse
and uninstructed,' but, in the main, consistently. If it misled him about
the minor poets whom he overestimated, it set him right about the
essential qualities in Crabbe's work and gave his three reviews of that
writer an authentic place in the history of the realistic movement in
the nineteenth century which began with Crabbe and is still being
continued by Mr Arnold Bennett. It was the basis of his .criticism of
Wordsworth, the criticism which has done most to fix his own standing
as a critic, and by which, perhaps, he must ultimately be judged :
Long habits of seclusion and an excessive ambition of originality can alone
account for the disproportion which exists between this author's taste and his
1 To Kobert Morehead, Aug. 6, 1798. 2 Edinburgh Review, Jan. 1809.
MERRITT Y. HUGHES 251
genius; or for the devotion with which he has sacrificed so many precious gifts
at the shrine of those idols which he has set up for himself among his lakes and
mountains. Solitary musings amidst such scenes might, no doubt, be expected to
nurse up the mind to the majesty of poetical conception — (though it is remarkable
that all the greater poets lived, or had lived, in the full current of society). But the
collision of equal minds, the admonition of prevailing conceptions, seems necessary
to reduce its redundancies and repress the extravagance or puerility, into which the
self-indulgence or self-admiration of genius is apt to be betrayed1.
MEKRITT Y. HUGHES.
BOSTON, U.S.A.
1 Edinburgh Eeview, Nov. 1814.
LOAN-WORDS FROM ENGLISH IN EIGHTEENTH-
CENTURY FRENCH.
II.
As to the vocabulary relating to English life in general, a few notes
will be sufficient. M. Bonnaffe has pudding (from 1698), pie (from 1698),
rosbif (rot-de-bif from 1698, rosbif from 17 56), plum-pudding (from 1756).
The following points may be noted :
(1) pudding is in Miege (1687) : * II faudroit etre cuisinier pour de-
crire toutes les sortes de boudin qui se font en Angleterre. Car on y
appelle pudding, non seulement ces boudins qui se font dans des boyaux
de cochon, mais aussi de certaines farces a 1'angloise, qu'on fait de
plusieurs manieres, dont les unes se cuisent au pot et les autres au four.
Celles-la s'appellent generalement boiled puddings et celles-ci baked
(ou pan) puddings... Au reste, c'est un plat d' Angleterre, a quoi les
etrangers s'accoutument facilement.'
(2) rosbif is earlier than 1756 ; Jacques Rosbif is the name of an
English merchant in De Boissy's play, Le Francois d Londres (1727).
(3) plum-pudding, explained in Miege (1687) as 'boudin ou il y a
des raisins sees/ occurs in 1745 in L'Abbe Le Blanc's Lettres d'un Francois,
ii, p. 33 : ' Si sur la table du candidat, il n'y a pas de plum-pudding, ou
si, y en ayant, il n'en mange pas, autre preuve qu'il est whig.'
The Refugees were impressed by the London squares. The Academy
admitted square in 1835 and M. Bonnaffe' has found it from 1778; it
occurs in 1774 in Grosley's Londres, 2nd ed., i, p. 72 : 'Les Anglois les
appellent squarres,' and may be in the first edition of 1770. In any case,
one should not omit to say that before that the expressions carre, place
carrde are used in reference to the London squares, witness the following
texts :
1687. Miege : * La ville de Londres est embellie de plusieurs belles places carrees.'
1725. Beat de Muralt, Lettres, etc., e"d. 1726, i, p. 178: ' Souvenez-vous, comme
d'une chose remarquable, que Londres a plusieurs places qu'on appelle carres ou 1'on
peut se promener et ou peu de gens se promenent.'
Such words as Strand, quoted from 1698 (cf. also Broadway), should not
be included; from the seventeenth century not only Strand, but also
PAUL BARBIER 253
Cheapside, Whitehall and others are of course common. On the other
hand, I should be inclined to include :
(1) penny-post. 1687. Miege: ' Peny-post. C'est une des grandes commodites de la
ville de Londres, de Pinvention d'un Mr Dockerey, marchand de cette ville... Celui
qui envoie la lettre paie le sou. Mais ce qui est encore extremement commode, c'est
qu'on a e"teudu le peny-post jusqu'a dix inilles autour de Londres. En ce cas, celui
qui re£oit lettre ou paquet hors de la ville paie un sou de son cote.3
1774. Grosley, Londres, i, p. 61, n. ': 'Si 1'etablissement du penni-port k Londres
date de ce siecle, Paris auroit, & cet egard, 1'honneur de 1'invention.'
1845. Bescherelle, Diet. Nat., art. penny : * On appelle, a' Londres, penny-post,
notre petite poste ; cependant depuis la reduction des lettres dans tout le royaume,
le nom peut s'appliquer au service interieur de la poste aux lettres en general.'
1846. Bastiat, (Euvres Completes, ed. 1881, i, p. 135. 'Nous n'avons ni railways
ni penny-postage...3
(2) rickets. 1687. Miege : ' Rickets. C'est une sorte de maladie qui est assez rare
en France, et tres commune en Angleterre parmi les jeunes enfants.'
1759. L'Abbe Expilly, Descr. hist, geogr. des isles britanniques, p. 383 : ' Les rickets
est une maladie qui attaque souvent les petits enfants et qui devient souvent incurable
quand elle n'est pas traitee avec le plus grand soin.3
1845. Bescherelle, Diet. Nat.: ticket, s.m. Pathol. Nom que Ton donne quel-
quefois aux personnes affectees de rachitisme et qui en presentent les caracteres
dans leur conformation.'
M. Bonnaffe quotes croup from 1777. English influence on consomption
' phthisie ' (earlier ' maladie de langueur ') seems likely and galopante in
phthisie galopante comes from galoping consumption.
One of the fir.st ideas of the Refugees was to make known English
scientific work. As early as June 1685, in the Nouvelles de la Republique
des Lettres, p. 677, Bayle, struck with the considerable scientific pro-
duction in this country, says : ' On voit par la que 1'Angleterre toute
seule pourroit fournir de quoi remplir d'extraits de bons livres un journal
plus gros que le notre...' And his suggestion was followed. In his
own periodical are to be found earlier examples than are given by the
Dictionnaire General of a very large number of scientific terms. It
appears to me that it would be well to attempt to fix the chronology of
such scientific terms as began to be used from 1665 ; a proportion of
them originated in England although as a general rule they would
come into French from the scientific Latin still much in use at the end
of the seventeenth century.
For instance, from Newton's Principia (1687) come the F. centrifuge
and centripete, but they are transcriptions of Newton's ^atin creations
centrifuga, centripeta. On the other hand, Newton's Optics appeared in
English in 1704 (Latin transl., 1706) ; in Coste's translation into French,
which was published in 1722, reflexible, reftexibilite', refrangible, re-
frangibilite are taken from English as is supposed by the Diet. Gen.1
1 Refrangible, refrangibilite , reflexibilite occur in 1706 in the Nouvelle de la Republique
des Lettres, Avril, pp. 397, 400, Juin, p. 368, in a review of Newton's Optics and before the
publication of the Latin translation of that work.
254 Loan-words from English in 1 8th Century French
Ref racier and refractif as optical terms are also anglicisms ; the first
occurs in Voltaire's Elements de la philosophie de Newton in 1738
(Diet. Gen., 1752). Anglicisms, at a very little later period, are inocaler,
inoculation (of virus), and also chronometre and compensateur.
Some would be found in the vocabulary of every science. In zoology,
M. Bonnaffe gives albatros, alligator, antilope, balbuzard, baltimore, noddy
and puffin. And there are others. The word mandrill appears to furnish
a parallel case to that of tatouer. The E. tattoo occurs for the first time
in Captain Cook's Voyages ; M. Bonnaffe has shown that the F. tatouer
is first attested from 1772 in translations from Cook. As to mandrill , it
is a name of a monkey of the genus cynocephalus and it was first inserted
in the Diet, de I'Acad. in 1878 ; the Diet. Gen. quotes it from 1798 ;
but it occurs in 1755 in J.-J. Rousseau's Discours sur I'inegalite, p. 226 :
' II est encore parle de ces especes d'animaux antropoformes dans le
troisieme tome de la meme Histoire des Voyages sous les noms de beggos
ou de mandrills...' Now Prevost's Hist, des Voyages began to appear in
1746, and the volume containing 'le voyage de Guinee de Mr Smith'
was out by 1748 as it is referred to by Montesquieu in the Esprit des
Lois ((Euvres, ed. 1820, i, p. 421). It is thus practically certain that
the first appearance of mandrill in French occurs in the translation of
W. Smith's Voyage (1744), and the Voyage contains the first example
of mandrill in English (N.E.D., s. voc. mandrill). This is another small
piece of evidence of the close relations between the two literatures and
shows at the samte time the importance for anglicisms of the numerous
translations of English works of travel which was published in French
from the end of the seventeenth century.
Of fish-names gunnelle or gonnelle, pilchard, sprat are usually reflexes
of gunnellus, pilchardus, sprattus, used by Linnaeus as specific terms.
There is evidence that pilchard and sprat have existed as more popular
borrowings ; M. Bonnaffe includes sprat in his list, and an interesting
example of pilchard in a text of 1707 will be found in the Modern
Language Review, viii (1913), p. 180. Lac6pede, in his Histoire Naturelle
des Poissons (1798 — 1803), made use of various English fish-names :
ballan, bibe, etc., which though little used have found their way into
dictionaries.
The spelling of the word is often indicative of its source. The -oo of
kanguroo (from 1802) and of its variants kangouroo, kangaroo (cf. the
more French termination kangourou, kangarou) suggests that the word
came through English like whip-poor-will (1779) or racoon ; it is amusing
to remember, in this connection, that Topffer, Voyages en zigzag (1844),
PAUL BARBIER 255
ed. 1846, pp. 5, 21, etc., uses kangourou in the sense of ' puce ' and creates
from it kangouriser and kangourisme.
Among the names of trees I notice that M. Bonnaffe omits tallipot
(from 1683), considered by the Diet. Gen. as being the E. tallipot cor-
rupted from the Malay kelapa.
English influence on commercial and industrial terms should also be
noted. Penny (spelled peni), shilling (chelin), farthing (fardin) are in
Perlin's Description des royaumes d'Angleterre et d'Ecosse (1558).
Guinee appears in 1669. M. Bonnaffe gives neither half -penny nor crown
(couronne), cf. demi-couronne. Of weights and measures he only admits
yard and stone. A glance at Savary des Bruslons' Dictionnaire du Com-
merce shows that English weights and measures were known in the
eighteenth century. Inch, foot, mile appear of course as pouce, pied,
mille ; but fathom, furlong and others could be quoted with examples,
to say nothing of firkin and kilderkin, rod and rood.
The English word customs appears at the end of the seventeenth
century in receveur des coutumes ; excise (quoted by M. Bonnaffe from
1688) is in 1687 in Miege : 'excise sorte d'impot qu'on peut appeler
excise par distinction.' M. Bonnaffe quotes drawback from 1755 as a
commercial term and also consolide (les annuites consolidees in a text of
1768); he might have noted among the derivatives of the latter the
words consolider and consolidation in speaking of the public debt.
Annuite as an insurance term is also an eighteenth-century anglicism.
M. Bonnaffe includes importer and importation but, by a curious
oversight, makes no mention of exporter and exportation ; it should be
noted that reimporter, reimportation, reexporter, reexportation are as old
as the simpler forms. The names of stuffs are of the commonest kind of
loan-words. I shall quote two only here : reps and calicot, both admitted
by the Diet, de I'Acad., in 1835, and neither recognized as anglicisms
by M. Bonnaffe. As to reps, he may have been influenced by the authors
of the Diet. Gen. who consider it a word of unknown origin. It is, how-
ever, clear that its source is the E. rib, ' a raised stripe or wale in cloth
or knitted goods.' E. ribs has given F. reps which has returned to E. as
rep or reps. Calicot is not, as the Diet. Gen. says, an attempt to reproduce
the E. pronunciation of Calicut, but is borrowed from E. calico, spelt
callico in 1687 by Miege1.
1 M. Bonnaffe includes neither chdle nor cacliemire:
1791. Volney, Les Raines in (Euvres, ed. 1821, i, 24 : ' Les schals de Kachemire...'
1793. Mackintosh, Voyages, i, 301: 'Les femmes (aux Indes) ont des shawls qui....'
In a note: 'Les shawls ou chales, en prononcant & la francoise, sont des voiles de
mousseline ou d'autre etoffe.' Nor casimir introduced by the Academic into its Dictionary
in 1835 and considered by the D.G. as of unknown origin. It is the obsolete E. cassimere,
a doublet of cashmere.
256 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
Of Angloamericanisms, M. Bonnaffe has found squaw, swamp, wigwam
and alligator in Richard Blome, L'Amerique Angloise (1688), a translation
from English. Toboggan as an anglicism is quoted from 1890 only; a
historical note might be added showing that an independent French form
tabaganne occurs in 1691 in Leclercq's Nouvelle relation de la Gaspesie,
p. 70, as I am informed by Professor. Weekley. Punch is first quoted in
1653 as bolleponge from Boullaye-le-Gouz' Voyages and there explained
as 'une boisson dont les Anglois usent aux Indes' (cf. bouleponche in
Furetiere's Diet, in 1701 and the later bol de punch). So grog is first
attested in a translation of Cook's voyages. M. Bonnaffe omits the words
plantation and planteur. Miege in 1687 translates the plantations of
America by les plantages d'Amdrique. Already, in reference to Ireland,
we find in 1704 in the Hist, des guerres civiles, ii, p. 60: 'On envoya
seulement quelques troupes dans 1'Ultonie pour y defendre leurs planta-
tions...,' and in 1761 in Savary des Bruslons' Diet, du Comm., iv, c. 211,
we read : 'Plantations. Les Anglois ont ainsi appell£ les colonies fondees
principalement sur la culture, et ils ont nomme planteurs les colons qui
les cultivent.'
The American war of independence and the interest aroused thereby
in France caused the introduction of a certain number of anglicisms :
congres (congressiste and later congressman), meeting, dollar, cent. To
these should be added influence on the F. insurgent and insurgence and
the word papier-monnaie (and sometimes monnaie de papier) :
1790. Qu'est-ce gue le papier -monnoie ? Lettres cTun Anglais [Playfair] a un
Franpais. Impr. de Callot in 8vo. [See Querard, Superch. Lift., i, p. 353.]
1793. Brissot in Deb. of the Nat. Conv., ed. Bossange, 1828, in, p. 150: 'Us
ignorent done que les Americains furent libres longtemps apres la mort de leur
papier-monnaie.'
1845. Faucher, Etudes sur V Angleterre, i, p. 118: 'La monnaie de papier, en
Angleterre, est encore aujourd'hui dans son etat feodaJ.'
Whist in its earlier form wisk has been found by M. Bonnaffe from
1758. He does not mention the game of crabs or creps (Diet. Gen., from
1789). French relations with the United States brought in various
modifications of whist, notably boston and maryland. M. Bonnaffe only
gives boston and quotes from the N.E.D. his first example of 1805 :
'Tarif du jeu de boston whist.' But in 1789 a new edition of the
Academie Universelle des Jeux had appeared at Amsterdam, ' augmentee
du jeu des echecs par Philidor et du jeu du whisk par Edmond Hoyle,
traduit de 1'anglois, du whisk bostonien et du maryland.' M. Bonnaffe
has not found chelem before 1821 nor singleton before 1841 : both are
in the 1789 edition just mentioned, chelem (pp. 324, 337) in reference to
both boston and maryland, singleton (p. 330) in reference to boston only.
PAUL BARBIER 257
Among words of more general interest, one notices the omission of
romantique (romantisme and occasionally romanticisme), on which so
much has been written. Humour occurs first in Be'at de Mural t's book,
published in 1725, but written in 1694-51. Spleen is given by M.Bonnaffe
from 1763; it is already in Le Blanc's Lettres d'un Francois (1745), i,
pp. 118, 140, and the disease is described in PreVost's Cleveland (1732)
although the word does riot occur there. M. Bonnaffe's first instance of
goddam is of the year 1769; the word is already in 1766 in Baculard
d'Arnaud's Sydney et Silli, ed. Francfort, 1767, p. 3. A few words of this
class omitted by M. Bonnaffe might be mentioned :
lune de miel (E. honeymoon from 1546, N.E.D.).
1747. Voltaire, Zadig\ 'Zadig eprouva que le premier mois du mariage, comme
il est ecrit dans le livre du Zend, est la lune de miel, et que le second est la lime de
Tabsinthe.5
1817. [Defauconpret], Londres et ses habitants, i, p. 68 : 'Cela est charmant. Et
les femmes peuvent-elles faire assurer k leurs maris la m£me sante, la meme amabilite
que dans le premier mois de leur mariage que vous nommez ici le mois de miel ? '
1818. La Minerve Francaise, i, p. 253 : Le premier mois de cette union, ce mois
precieux que les Anglais nomment energiquement the honeymoon, la lune de miel...5
1829. Balzac, Physiologie du mariage, medit. vii : * Cette expression, lune de miel,
est un anglicisme qui passera dans toutes les langues...'
desappointer, desappointement.
1761. Voltaire, Lettre a d"' Olivet : ' Que d'expressions nous manquent aujourd'hui
qui etaient energiques du temps de Corneille... '[ On assignait, on apointait un temps,
un rendez-vous ; celui qui, dans le moment marque, arrivait an lieu convenu et qui
n'y trouvait point son prometteur, etait desapointe. Nous n'avons aucun mot pour
exprimer aujourd'hui cette situation d'un homme qui tient sa parole et k qui on en
manque.'
Cf. also Voltaire, Diet. Phil., art. appointe, quoted by Prof. Baldensperger in
Rev. de Philol. Fr., xxvi, p. 95 : * Les Anglais ont pris de nous ces mots appointe,
desappointe, ainsi que beaucoup d'autres expressions tres energiques, ils se sont
enrichis de nos depouilles et nous ri'osons reprendre notre bien.'
1789. Dutens, L'ami des etr angers qui voy agent en Angleterre, p. 178: 'Votre
imagination, exaltee par leur exageration, sera certainement desappointe"e...'
1803. L'Abeille du Nord, 8 Nov., p. 779: 'Ceux qui se seraient represente
M. Gibbon comme un homme d'une physionomie imposante...se trouveraient singu-
lierement desapointes, pour me servir d'une expression anglaise, que nous avons mal
k propos abandonee...'
1821. Ch. Nodier, Promenade de Dieppe aux montagnes d?Ecosse, p. 294: 'Le
desapointement que nous en ressentions, influa peu sur les impressions que nous
venions chercher.'
1835. Desappointer, desappointement officially accepted by the Acad. in their
new sense. 9
non-sens (thirteenth-century example in Diet. Gen.).
1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lettres d'un Francois, iii, p. 296 : ' Ce que nous nommons
esprit, les Anglois le nomment deraison.' ' Non sense ' in note at the bottom of the
page.
ante 1778. Voltaire quoted by Mercier, Neologie, 1801, ii, p. 145 : ' Origene fut le
1 Humeur as a translation of E. humour occurs in the translation of Temple, (Euvres
melees, Amsterdam, 1693, ii, 364.
M.L. R. XVI. 17
258 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
premier qui donna de la vogue au non-sens, au galimathias de la Trinite, qu'on avait
oublie depuis Justin.'
1787-8. Fe>aud, Diet, crit., quotes the word from Linguet.
1809. J. Le Maistre, Les Soirees de St Petersbourg, eU Lyon- Paris, 1870, ii, p. 130 :
c Quelque chose d'intrinsequement faux, et m6rne de niais, ou comme disent les
Anglais, un certain non sens qui saute aux yeux.'
1823. Arcieu, Diorama de Londres, p. 110 : 'II ne faut qu'avoir assiste quelque-
fois aux debats parlementaires auxquels il prenait part, pour lui avoir entendu lacher
quelqu'un de ces non sens.'
1832. Eaymond, Diet. Ge'n. : ' Non-sens, s.m. Phrase qui ne prdsente aucun sens.
Absence de jugement.'
1878. Non-sens officially accepted by the Academy.
papier.
1731. Montesquieu, Notes sur VAngleterre dans (Euvres, e"d. 1820, ii, p. 286 :
4 Comme on voit le diable dans les papiers periodiques, on croit que le peuple va se
revolter demain.'
1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lettres dun Francois, ii, p. 219 : 'II est triste pour
nous, dit un auteur anglois, d'§tre forces d'avouer que nos papiers publics ne sont
remplis que de personnalites et de satires scandaleuses.'
1771. Grimm, Corr. Lift., e"d. 1813, i, p. 131 : 'On peut se rappeler une aventure
rapportee il y a quelques annees dans les papiers anglais.'
1774. Grosley, Londres, ed. 1788, iii, p. 235: ' M. Eouguet ne considere, sous
cet article (Iinprimerie), que les papiers publics qui inondent chaque jour la ville de
Londres.3
In my view the prolonged influence of the English mind on eighteenth-
century France, considered in its far-reaching results, constitutes one of
the most important facts of modern times. The extreme French con-
servatism of the second half of the seventeenth century in the matter
of neology produced a very natural reaction, and I am convinced that
English influence on the new vocabulary of the eighteenth century is
greater than is usually supposed and particularly considerable in the
case of abstract and general terms. Up to the present, in many cases,
the English word precedes the corresponding French word in date, but
that may be due to the extremely unsatisfactory condition of French
lexicography. The Dictionnaire General was a boon when it appeared
and it still remains the most satisfactory publication of its kind. But a
new French dictionary, of larger proportions, is urgently required. In
it a much more extensive vocabulary would have to be introduced, the
etymologies would have to be brought up to date, earlier instances than
those given by the Diet. Gen. quoted for thousands of words, the dating
of the various meanings of identical words undertaken and in many cases
the historical order of meanings reversed. Nor can it be expected that any
one man can satisfactorily accomplish the task. Nor, may I add, can a
proper account of French borrowings from other languages be drawn up
until this task is completed. It may, however, interest readers of the
Modern Language Review to have a few out of many eighteenth-century
PAUL BARBIER 259
words the English origin of which is either certain or very probable, or
which at the very least have undergone English influence :
additionnel (E. additional, quite common in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries). First noted in the second half of the eighteenth
century, in Turgot (frais additionnels) and in Buffon (Diet. Gen.). Chiefly
used in centimes additionnels (cf. E. additional excise translated by Boyer
in 1729 by surer oit d'impot) and in the historical acte additionnel,
coalition, coaliser, admitted by the Academy in 1798. Cf.
1787. Feraud, Diet. crit. : coalition.
1791. Doumergue, Journal de la langue franc ., viii, p. 265 (the word is noted by
him in one of Mirabeau's speeches) : ' Coalition, mot que les Anglais ont pris des
Latins et que nous avons pris recemment des Anglais.'
1798. Romance-Mesmon, art. from Le Reveil of Hambourg, Oct. 1798, p. 209, n.
(Rev. de Philol. Fr., xxii, p. 141) : * (Coalition) Ce mot n'est pas fran§ais ; il n'existait •
pas meme en Angleterre il y a vingt-cinq ans, au moins dans son acception politique ;
il doit son origine aux debats parlementaires relatifs a la guerre d'Amerique.'
conciliatoire, admitted by the Academy in 1 878.
1777. Linguet, Ann. pol. civ. et lift., iii, p. 523 : 'bills conciliatoires.' E. concilia-
tory is much earlier. Cf. Linguet's use of prohibitoire, see Gohin, Transformations de
la Langue francaise, 1903, pp. 328, 329.
exhibition.
1774. Grosley, Londres, ed. 1788, iii, p. 197 :' Trois tableaux qui j'ai vus de lui
a 1'exhibition*. — *Note: Une exposition publique.'
1817. [Defauconpret], Londres et ses habitants, ii, p. 161 : 'On en fait ce qu'on
appelle en Angleterye une exhibition.'
1826. Ch. Nodier, Promenade de Dieppe aux montagnes d'Ecosse, p. 81 : 'Les
exhibitions particulieres sont une espece de speculation que la cupidite multiplierait
au defaut de la vanite, car on paie, a entrer a toutes les exhibitions et m6me k celles
des musees nationaux.'
1898. Remy St Maurice, Le Recordman, p. 203 : ' Le Gallic effectua ce que les
Ame'ricains appellent une course "exhibition," c'est & dire qu'il couvrit seul...une
distance determinee...3
The word is now a common sporting term and with it go exhibitionner
and exhibitionniste.
immoral, immoralite, admitted by the Academy in 1835. (The N.E.D.
quotes E. immoral from 1660 and immorality from 1566.)
The first instance of F. immoral quoted up to the present is of 1776
(see Diet. Gen.). For immoralite, the first I can quote is :
1793. Deb. de la Conv. Nat., eU 1828, iv, p. 313 : ' C'est la la source de la cor-
ruption et de 1'immoralite qui regnent dans le parlement britannic^e.'
inconsistance, inconsistant, admitted by the Academy in 1878. Cf.
E. inconsistence, inconsistency translated by Boyer in 1729 by incompati-
bilite, and inconsistent by incompatible, contraire, contradictoire.
1755. Rouquet, $tats des arts en Angleterre, p. 108 : ' Tout ornement introduit
dans un portrait aux depens de Peffet de la tete est une iuconsistance.'
1794. La Harpe in Mer cur e f rang., n° 4 : 'L'inconsistance des idees, du caractere ;
1'inconsistance d'un ministre, d'un gouvernement sont des expressions tres claires...'
17—2
260 Loan-words from English in 1 8th Century French
Gohin quotes from Beaumarchais an example of inconsistant of 1793 :
' age inconsistant.'
inoffensif, admitted by the Academy in 1835. Mercier, Neologie, 1801,
quotes it from a translation of Sterne : ' Une de ces innocentes et in-
offensives creatures.' E. inoffensive (or harmless) is translated by Miege
in 1687: 'innocent, qui ne fait aucun mal, qui n'est point malfaisant,
ou il n'y a pas de mal.'
instinctif, instinctivement, admitted by the Academy in 1835. The
Diet. Gen. gives instinctif from, one of Maine de Biran's early philosophical
essays (1803) and instinctivement from 1802. E. instinctive is common in
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and instinctive principles is
used in 1775 in Priestley's criticism of Thomas Reid.
investigation, used by J.- J. Rousseau in 1750 in the Discours a I' A cad.
de Dijon, (Euvres, ed. 1782, 12°, xiii, p. 61 : ' Que de fausses routes dans
1'investigation des sciences,' blamed by an anonymous critic and defended
by Rousseau in his Lettre sur une nouvelle refutation (xiii, p. 230) : 'Quand
j'ai hazarde le mot investigation, j'ai voulu reiidre un service a la langue,
en essayant d'y introduire un terme doux, harmonieux, dont le sens est
deja connu, et qui n'a point de synonyme en Francois/ The word was
accepted by the Academy in 1798. The E. investigation is rendered by
Miege in 1687 by exacte recherche, perquisition.
mesinterpreter, misinterpretation, both used by Diderot and the first
by J.-J. Rousseau, are the E. misinterpret, misinterpretation.
populaire, in sense 3 of the Diet. Gdn. : ' qui a la faveur du peuple/
With this sense go popularite (Acad. 1798), impopulaire, impopularite
(Acad. 1835).
1687. Miege : ' to be a popular man, etre populaire.'
1704. Clarendon, Hist. d. guerres civ. d'Angl., i, 123-4: 'Williams, evdque de
Lincoln... qui depuis sa disgrace s'etoit rendu fort populaire...'
1748. Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, in Diet. Gen. : 'Pour se rendre populaire...'
1786. [0. Goldsmith], Lettres phil. et pol. s. Vhist. d'Angleterre (transl. by Mme
Brissot), i, p. 311 : 'Car pour etre populaire, il falloit 6tre conquerant.' Translator's
note : ' En Anglois, ce mot veut dire avoir la faveur du peuple et c'est le sens dans
lequel on le prendra.'
population. See the Diet. Gen.
social. The word is found in various senses in the fourteenth, fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries. Its fortune (cf. the derived socialisme, socialiste)
was made by Rousseau's Contrat Social of 1762. -The Supplement of
1752 to the Diet, de Trevoax notes vertus sociales from PreVost's Pour
et Contre (1731-40); E. social virtues is translated in 1729 by Boyer:
vertus sociables. Vertus sociales occurs repeatedly from 1740, e.g., in 1748
PAUL BARBIER 261
in [Toussaint], Mceurs, 4th ed., 1749, p. 258. For the numerous meanings
of E. social in the early eighteenth century, see the N.E.D.
vulgarite (in an unfavourable sense). Cf.
1800. Pougens, Bibl. franc., De"c., p. 163 : ' Madame de Stael me paralt moins
heureuse lorsqu'elle veut deferidre le mot vulgarite. Cette expression empruntee de
Dryden est-elle bien conforme au genie de notre langue ? '
[Cf. Dryden, Dedication to Juvenal : ' Is the grandesophos of Persius and the
sublimity of Juvenal to be circumscribed with the meanness of words and the vul-
garity of expression ? ']
Another important word of this class is patriote in the modern sense,
with patriotique and patriotisme, all accepted by the Academic in 1762.
The older meaning of patriote is 'compatriote.' For the new meaning cf. :
1750. [Bolingbroke], Lettres sur V esprit de patriotisme, sur I' idee d'un roi patriote...
ouvrage traduit de Vanglois [by the comte de Bissy], Londres, in 8vo. (The E. original
goes back to 1738.)
It would be interesting to know if any much earlier instances of the
French words in question can be given. Under the influence of Rousseau,
from 1754 (cf. Dedication to Disc, sur I'inegalite, p. xxiii : 'un honnete
et vertueux patriote '; viii : ' la tendre affection d'un vrai patriote '), the
word patriote gained ground very rapidly ; both patriotique and patriotisme
occur in letters of Moultou to Rousseau in 1758. On the other hand,
the corresponding English words were common in the beginning of the
eighteenth century.
These few instances show that a great deal remains to be done in
this field of enquiry. The greatest French writers of the time as well as
the humblest have helped in the naturalisation of words from English
sources. Some authors and some subjects are particularly implicated-
At the end of the century Linguet's Annales (1777 — 1783) contains not
only benevolence, boxe (at a theatre), closet, counsellor, cutter, forgery,
garret, huzza, impeachmen(t), indictment, pit, smogler, soupe untonnee, but
words of so-called learned formation, the corresponding English forms of
which had been long in use ; congratulatoire, digestible and indigestible,
Emigration, incidentel, inconditionnel, jesuitisme, judiciel, obliteration,
theoriste and many others.
I do not suppose that Professor Brunot would wish ^is to take too
seriously his statement in the preface that the search for early examples
of words is ' un jeu assez pueril.' In the history of loan-words, the early
texts are often of paramount importance. Not the date only but the
nature and source of the text must be taken into account. In that
respect the work of Godefroy and Delboulle must not.be lightly treated,
and they have helped the Diet. Gen. to attain its recognized place in
lexicography. In the course of this article, I have already called attention
262 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
to earlier instances of some thirty words and I think it worth while to
append the following notes on some thirty others. The date within
brackets after each word is that of the earliest instance given by
M. Bonnaffe :
baby (1850), bebe (1842). 1704. Clarendon, Hist. d. g. civ. d'Angl, i,
p. 22 : 'Le roi parla en ces termes... Voici baby Charles et Stenny qui
souhaitent aller. . .en Espagne pour querir 1'infante. . .' Note : ' Baby qui
veut dire petit enfant, et Stenny etoient des noms dont il se servit
en parlant du prince et du due.' Cf. Bebe, surname of Nicolas Ferry
(1739 — 1764), dwarf at the court of Lorraine.
bill d1 'attainder (1826). 1748. Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, in (Euvres,
ed. 1820, i, p. 323.
boxeur (1792). 1788. Mercier, Tableau de Paris, xi, p. 162.
building (1895). Cf. 1774. Grosley, Londres, i, p. 48 : ' La Tamise. . .
n'a de communication avec 1'interieur de la ville, pour les chargemens
et dechargemens des marchandises, que par des biddings, stairs ou
echelles qui se ferment exactement hors les cas de besoin...'
Chester (1853). 1760. Savary des Bruslons, Diet, du Comm., ii, p. 782 :
'On fait cas du fromage de Chester.' — 1762. Journal du voyage a Londres
du due de Nivernais, in Lom6nie, La Comtesse de Rochefort et ses amis,
p. 366 : 'Une bouchee de fromage de Chester tres gras.' — 1790. Grimm,
Corr. Litt., ed. 1813, v, p. 397.— 1845. Bescherelle, Diet. Nat.
claret (1830). 1762. Journ. du voy. du due de Nivernais, in Lorn erne,
op. cit, p. 367 : ' Avec deux petits coups de vin claret, c'est-a-dire de
Bordeaux.'
coachman (1838). 1790. Grimm, Corr.Litt.,ed. 1813, v, p. 395.— 1830.
Balzac, Route d'Hastings, in Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, Hist. d. ceuvres
d. Balz., p. 260.
congres (1776). 1776. Beaumarchais, Memoire au roi seul, 29 fevrier,
in Lomenie, Beaum. et son temps, i, p. 101 : ' Je puis vous dire des a
present quelles resolutions prendra le congres a cet egard.'
coolie, couli (1699). 1684. Thevenot, Voyages, iii, p. 20.
creek (1786). 1759. Bellin, Ess. gdogr. sur les isles britanniques, ii,
p. 35, n. : ' Par le mot creek, les Anglois entendent une petite baie ou
anse, dans laquelle de petits batimens peuvent mouiller et se mettre a
1'abri. Us donnent aussi ce nom a de petites rivieres qui se de"chargent
dans une plus grande, ou meme a la mer, lorsque leur cours n'est pas
e"tendu. En francois nous avons le mot de crique qui a la meme signifi-
cation.'
croupal (1863). 1832. Raymond, Diet. Gtn.
PAUL BARBIER 263
cromwellisme (1689). 1688. Ex. in Littre, Suppl.
cromwelliste (1717). 1666. Robinet in Continuateurs de Lovet, ed.
Rothschild, i, 887. — 1685. Nouv. de la republ. des Lettres, Mai, p. 563.
dispensaire (1775). Cf. 1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lett d'un Fr., ii, p. 85 :
' Malgre les eloges que les Anglois donnent a ce dernier (i.e., Garth), au
sujet de son Dispensaire...' 1754. Pope, (Euvr., i, p. 22: ' Le docteur
Garth, auteur du Dispensary, fut un des premiers amis de notre poete.'
dyke (1768). 1759. Savary des Bruslons, Diet, du Comm., i, c. 975.
fox-hunter (1840). 1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lett, d'un Fr., ii, p. 188 :
' C'est la description bizarre d'un etre assez singulier et que les Anglois
appellent fox-hunter. . . Le fox-hunter ne connoit de gloire que celle de
courir aussi vite que Tanimal dont il est 1'ennemi declare...'
hourrah, hurra (1830). 1774. Grosley, Londres, i, p. 158 : ' Sa fureur
(i.e., de la canaille) tomba principalement sur les carrosses de place, des
cochers desquels elle exigea qu'ils la saluassent du fouet et du chapeau
en criant ourey : cri de ralliement dans toutes les bagarres.'
ketch (1788). This form occurs in 1761 in Savary des Bruslons, Diet,
du Comm., iii, c. 470.
medium (1856), of spiritualism. Cf. the following : 1765. [Berger],
transl. of D. Webb, Rech. sur les beautes de la nature, p. 143 : ' Les hommes
d'un genie superieur voyent la nature a travers le meme medium, leur
imagination brillante...'
newtonianisme (1773). 1738. Letter of Mme du Chatelet to Mau-
pertuis in Lettres, ed. Asse, p. 199.
non-conformiste (1688). 1684. [Nicole], Les pretendus reformer,
p. 614,
porter (1775). 1774. Grosley, Londres, i, p. 333 : ' Quoique le porter
passe pour tres fort, il me portoit moins a la tete qu'a 1'estomac...'
sandwich (1802). Cf. 1774. Grosley, Londres, i, p. 296, which gives
the description of a sandwich and says it was named after an English
minister, but does not give the name. (Already mentioned in first ed.
of 1770.)
self defence (1889). 1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lett, d'un Fr., iii, p. 8 :
' Moi, George Bishop, maitre de la noble science de defense dans toutes
ses branches...'
toast2 (17 62). 1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], Lett, d'un Fr., ii., p. 105:
toste, toste de rebut,
toaster (1750). 1745. [Abbe Le Blanc], op. cit., ii, p. 108.
turnep (1771). 1761. Savary des Bruslons, Diet, du Comm., iii, c. 482
(art. laine): 'Les navets ou turnipes...'
264 Loan-words from English in 18th Century French
whisky (1786). 1770. D'Orville, Nuits anglaises according to Hans
Bachmann, Das Englische Sprachgut in den Romanen Jules Verne's,
1916, p. 7.— 1786. Grimm, Corr. Litt., 3e partie, iii, p. 492 : ' wiskis.'
It will be noted that I have throughout this article carefully given
the texts on which I base my argument. Mere affirmation, unsupported
by textual evidence, must be of little value in dealing with the origin
of loan-words. On the subject of eighteenth-century English loan-words
in French, I believe that good and interesting work remains to be done.
PAUL BARBIER.
LEEDS.
THE ETHICAL SYSTEM OF THE 'INFERNO1/
IN the eleventh Canto of the Inferno (lines 22 — 90) two distinct
statements are put upon the lips of Virgil in reference to the Ethical
System of Hell. A considerable literature has gathered round the question
of their relation to each other, but, though opinions still differ, I cannot
help hoping that a fuller statement and coordination of the evidence
than, so far as I know, has yet been furnished, may secure a unanimous
verdict.
I believe it can be shewn that an elaborate and uniform numerical
scheme underlies the classification in all the three Cantiche. It consists
in a three-fold division, yielding, by subdivision of its first and third mem-
bers, seven main divisions of souls ; to which two more, on a somewhat
different plane, must be added, 7 + 2 = 9; while yet another mansion,
distinct from the nine thus appropriated gives us 9 + 1, and so yields the
mystic number 10. But in the matter of topography and classification
the first Cantica is far more complicated than either of the other two,
and for that reason it will be well to preface our examination of the
Inferno by a brief account of the simpler schemes of the Purgatorio and
the Paradiso.
On the Mount of Purgatory there are seven terraces. They correspond
to the seven Capital Vices, from the stains of which souls must be cleansed
before they can ascend to the Earthly Paradise. But this seven-fold
classification is explained by Virgil (in Purgatorio xvn) as rising out of
a three-fold division that underlies it. Our affections, he says, are per-
fectly regulated when we love, or rejoice in, the right things in the right
measure — God and goodness supremely, and all else in relation and in
subordination to that highest love. When we go wrong, we either love
what we ought not to love at all, or we love the supreme to* little or that
which is not supreme too much. Thus perverse love, inadequate love,
and excessive love, include, amongst them, every kind of passion or
affection that needs purgation on the Mount, and they underlie all the
seven capital vices.
1 The quotations from the Inferno given in t his essay are taken from Mr George Mus-
grave's translation. It was in connection with a hoped for reissue of that work that it was
first drafted.
266 The Ethical System of the ' Inferno '
If, in Pride, we desire another's defeat or humiliation as ministering
to our own exaltation, if, in Envy, we grudge another's success or rejoice
in his ill-fortune, or if, in Anger, we seek assuagement in another's hurt,
then we take joy in that for which we ought to feel sorrow and our love
is perverse. If, in Sloth, we neglect the means of learning what we may
of the Supreme Good, or pursue it, when known, with languid affection
then our love is defective. If, in Avarice, in Gluttony, or in Carnality,
we pursue the things of the world and the flesh too eagerly, then our love
is excessive.
Thus the arrangement of the repentant souls in seven classes (occu-
pying seven distinct terraces) reveals itself as an elaboration of a more
fundamental three-fold division. Or, if we take it the other way round,
we may say that we find the first and third members of the fundamental
Triad each falling into three sections, while the central member remains
undivided ; so that we have 3 + 1 + 3 = 7. Reading from below upwards,
in the order of Dante's ascent, then, we have
( Carnality 3
3 Excessive love \ Gluttony 2
[Avarice 1
2 Defective love Sloth 1
{Anger 3
Envy 2
Pride 1
3+1+3=7
But, in addition to the occupants of the seven terraces, there are the
Excommunicated on the island-base of the Mount, and the Late Repentant
on its lower slopes, constituting two other classes not strictly coordinate
with the seven ; and giving us 7 + 2 = 9. There remains the Garden of
Eden at the summit, which is not a part of Purgatory at all, but is the
goal to which it leads. And so 9 + 1 = 10 completes the scheme.
Turning to the Paradiso we find a closely but not monotonously
parallel system. There is indeed no direct emphasis laid on a three-fold
division, but the central position and significance of the Sun is repeatedly
impressed upon us directly and by implication ; and if we take first, the
three * inferior ' planets, the Moon, Mercury and Venus, all of which are
within the range of the earth's shadow; second, the Sun himself; and
third, the three ' superior ' planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, we have
an easily recognisable scheme of 3 + 1 + 3 = 7.
And again, we have two other regions — far more conspicuous and
important than in the parallel case of the Purgatorio — clearly differen-
tiated from the seven spheres of the earlier part of the poem. In these
two regions no special class of souls appears to the poet, but the whole
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 267
host of the Redeemed in the one, and all the Angels in the other. These
are the sphere of the fixed Stars and the sphere of the Primum Mobile,
and they give us 7 + 2 = 9. And finally, beyond all the nine revolving
spheres, there is the Empyrean — spaceless, timeless, and subject to no
change. So here too we close with 9 + 1 = 10.
The scheme of the Inferno is more elaborate and complicated. We
may note, however, at the outset, that the Vestibule containing the
Trimmers and the Neutral Angels is associated with Hell but is not a
part of it ; and furthermore that Hell itself contains nine circles and nine
classes of damned souls. So we can already recognise the 9 + 1 = 10 with
which we are familiar in the other Cantiche. With this preface we may
turn to the eleventh Canto of the Inferno, where the classification of sins
is expressly set forth by Virgil.
When we reach this eleventh Canto, the poets have already passed
through six of the Infernal Circles, those namely of the Virtuous Heathen
(i), of the Carnal (il), of the Gluttons (ill), of the Avaricious and Prodigal
(iv), of the Angry (v), and of the Heretics (vi) ; and now, as they pause
on the verge of the deepening and narrowing abyss, Dante's guide explains
to him the nature and meaning of the three circles (vn, vm, ix) that
remain, placing them expressly in line with those previously traversed.
All malizia, he explains, which earns hatred in heaven, aims at inflicting
injury, and it works by the two weapons of forza (practised by the vio-
lenti) and frode. The more heinous of these is frode, because it is an
abuse of the specifically human faculty of reason. It is delU uom proprio
male. And so : ' The fraudulent are lower, in suffering more intense.'
But the fraudulent themselves constitute two classes rather than one,
inasmuch as Traitors, who have fraudulently wronged those who had
special claims on their fidelity, are differentiated from the common cheats,
who have only traded on the ordinary confidence that one man has in
the integrity and good-will of another. Thus the Traitors are punished
with Satan in the lowest circle of all (ix), whereas those guilty only of
common fraud,
which breaks
Only the bond of love which nature makes,
occupy circle vm.
Thus, the three circles yet to be explored contain the violenti (vn),
the (simply) frodolenti (vm), and the Traitors, or treacherously frodo-
lenti (ix). Of these three circles VII is subdivided into three, vm into
ten, and IX into four compartments. But these subdivisions do not affect
our present enquiry.
268 The Ethical System of the ' Inferno '
When Virgil has finished his account of the three circles (vm — ix)
which the pilgrims have yet to visit, Dante, after complimenting him on
his luminous exposition, proceeds to question him about four (but four
only) of the six circles they have already seen. Why, he asks, were (1) the
Carnal, (2) the Gluttonous, (3) the Avaricious and Prodigal, and (4) the
Angry, not included in the treatment of ' all malizia that earns hatred
in heaven,' if they have offended God ? And, if they have not, why are
they punished ? On this Virgil displays a quite unwonted irritation,
caused (as it is easy for any teacher to surmise !) not by the unintelligence
of the question itself, but by its coming on the top of the pupil's assertion
that he had perfectly understood the exposition. Had he really under-
stood it (and it was not hard), a passage in Aristotle with which he was
particularly familiar, a tacit reference to which had run through Virgil's
whole discourse, would have furnished him of itself with the answer to
his question. 'What!/ the teacher rejoins, 'Does not Aristotle tell us
that there are three kinds of reprehensible conduct, incontinenza, malizia,
and bestialitade ? And does he not add that of these three incontinenza
is the least blameworthy1 ? ' Had not the questioner's wits been
wool-gathering, or his usual intelligence thrown out of gear, he would
have had this passage in his mind, and would have seen, without asking,
why the sinners in the said four circles (all of whom had manifestly sinned
through incontinence) were broadly distinguished from the fell souls
punished in the Nether Hell.
This remarkable dialogue incidentally resolves our nine circles of Hell
into the 7 + 2 for which we are prepared. For both Dante in his question
and Virgil in his answer tacitly omit circle I, of Unbelievers, and circle VI,
of Misbelievers, as though they lay outside the system under examination,
as indeed they do. Thus the three lower circles yet to be visited (vn,
VIII, ix), and the four upper circles of the Incontinent already traversed
(li, ill, IV, v) form a scheme of seven, outside which the two others (l, vi)
stand on a distinct footing, 7 + 2 = 9.
And further, by now making a single class of Incontinence (1) in the
Upper Hell, coordinate with the two classes offorza (2) and frode (3) in
the Nether Hell, Virgil has given us the three-fold division that we expect
on the analogy of the other two Cantiche. The seven-fold division we
have already recognised is now found to spring out of this Triad by the
subdivision of its first member, incontinenza, into four and of its last,
1 It has been observed that Aristotle nowhere makes this statement in set terms. But
the objection is captious, for it is implied, and quite obviously assumed, throughout his
whole discussion of the three reprehensible kinds of conduct.
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 269
frode, into two. This gives us a 4 + 1 + 2 = 7, which is easily recog-
nisable as analogous to the more symmetrical 3 + 1 + 3 = 7 of the other
Cantiche.
The 7 + 2 = 9, and -the 9 + 1 = 10 of the others we have already found
in the Inferno also.
The whole scheme of the Inferno, then, may be thus presented :
1 Trimmers
1 Heathen
{1 Carnality
2 Gluttony
3 Avarice
4 Anger
2 Heretics
2 Force 1 Force
f 1 Simple Fraud
3 Fraud |2 TreaFcherous Fraud
3 4 + 1 + 2 = 7 +2 = 9 +1 = 10
Thus, by the aid of the Aristotelian reference, we have been enabled
to disentangle the full numerical scheme so plainly set out in the Pur-
gatorio and the Paradiso from the intricacies by which it is crossed in
the Inferno. But here the reader may demand, not without some
impatience, how he can be asked to suppose that Dante the poet was at
all these pains to lay traps for Dante the pilgrim, and at the same time
to conceal his numerical scheme almost past finding out. The natural
progress of our investigations will bring us an answer ; and meanwhile —
calling, for convenience, the triad incontinenza, forza, frode the
'Virgilian,' and the triad incontinenza, bestialitade, malizia1 the
* Aristotelian ' — we may note that when Virgil has developed the two
last terms of his own triad he implies that Dante himself ought to have
been able to supply the first term, on the analogy of the Aristotelian
triad, by including circles I — iv, in their collectivity, under incontinenza.
The presumption then is strong that the analogy holds all through and
that we are to take bestialitade = forza (violenti), and malizia = frode.
The alternative is to regard the Aristotelian triad as introduced merely
for the sake of embracing the four upper circles under the least heinous
category of offences. In this case the introduction of b&tialitade and
malizia would be purely incidental, and therefore, for purposes of
classification, irrelevant.
1 The order of enumeration in Inf. xi, 82 sq. is
Incontinenza, malizia e la matta
Bestialitade.
In Aristotle (Eth. Nic. vii, 1,1) it is: malitia, incontinentia, bestialitas. But the order
of gradation, with which alone we are concerned, is identical in both.
270 The Ethical System of the ' Inferno '
Let us then set aside the incontinema, as to which there is no dispute,
and examine the relation, or want of relation, between the two other pairs
of terms (throwing the Aristotelian words into their Latin form) :
I II
* • . ( forza bestialitas
mahzm
It will be convenient here to note that the terms forza and frode
are taken from Cicero : Cum autem duobus modis, id est, aul vi autfraude
fiat injuria ; fraus quasi vulpecidae, vis leonis videtur (De Off. 1, 13, sec. 10).
The influence of this passage may be traced in Inf. xxvii, 75, but what
chiefly interests us in the present context is that (while incidentally
explaining the introduction in Virgil's discourse of ingiuria, as the link
between malizia and forza and frode) it fully explains why those who
practise forza (vis) are uniformly described as the violenti.
The terms of comparison then are the Ciceronian and the Aristotelian
terminology ; and there would be nothing at all surprising in Dante's
finding, or attempting to establish, a harmony between them. Consider-
able sections of the 2a2ae of the Sam. Theol. are devoted to similar
adjustments and harmonisings between the terms, or systems, of different
authorities. But in this instance scholars who work on the Greek text
of Aristotle have found irreconcilable divergencies between his classifi-
cation and Cicero's. Aristotle's own terms are atcpaaia, O^picr^, and
Ka/cia ; so that, setting aside dicpaa-ia, as to which there is no dispute,
we have to study (1) the relation of #77/^0x779 (represented in the Latin
translation used by Dante by bestialitas) and forza; and (2) that of
/ca/cia (malitia) aid. frode. We will begin with (1).
Now Aristotle expressly states that Ofjpiorrjs is different in kind from
/ca/cua. It is erepov n 76^09 KaKias (Eth. Nic. vii, 1, 1), whereas forza,
in the Inferno, is but a certain species of malizia itself. If then we
identify bestialitas with forza, we make it at once a species of malizia and
something different from it in kind. When we turn to the Latin trans-
lation, however, the case is completely changed ; for the translator, by
a not unpardonable error, understands Aristotle in the exact opposite
sense, and makes him say that bestialitas is quoddam genus malitiae — a
certain kind of malizia, just as forza is in the other scheme. Moreover
Aristotle himself, while sharply distinguishing #77^0x779 from /catcia,
regards them both as forms of fiojfB^pia^ /ca/cia being /jLo^Orjpla tear
avOpwjrov, and #77/^6x779 a barbarous or exorbitant fjio^OripLa, more
revolting than tcaicia but not really so mischievous, because a bad man,
under the direction of his intelligence, 'can work a thousand-fold more
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 271
harm than a brute1.' Now the Latin version translates fjLO^6rjpia by the
very same word, malitia, that it has already used for Kaicia. Thus I and
IT in Italian and Latin become
I II
7. . ( forza T.- (bestialitas
mahzia / mahtia
And in both cases the second form of malitia is declared to be specifically
human (dell' uom proprio male in I, and malitia secundum hominem in li)
and at the same time is said to be more pernicious or blameworthy than
the other. In both schemes, too, the first form of malitia is specifically
differentiated from the other by its monstrous and un human nature.
Aquinas in his commentary calls it bestialis malitia2.
Nor will anyone deny that the general character of the offences in-
cluded by Aristotle under OrjpioTrjs corresponds to the crimes of the
violenti punished in Dante's circle of forza.
In a later chapter (Eth. Nic. vii, 5) Aristotle develops his concep-
tion of passions that are #77/9 1&> Set?, and associates with them such as
are voarj/jLaTcoSeLS, or unnaturally morbid. All are treated together and
are said to arise from diseased physical conditions or mutilations, from
evil habits early instilled, or from an abnormally depraved disposition.
Their general characteristic is that they find attraction in things that
are naturally repulsive. They are therefore monstrous and contrary to
human nature.
It is exactly this idea, systematically worked out by Dante, more
&MO, that underlies the arrangement of circle vn. It is a commonplace
alike with Dante and Aquinas that there are three objects of affection
natural to man (cf. Conv. I, 1, 54 sqq., Purg. xvii, 106 — 111). It is
natural to us to feel good-will to our kind if no interest or passion of
our own is enlisted against them. For instance, it would be unnatural
not to help a man who had fallen down to get up again, even if he were
a stranger. It is still more obviously natural for every man to desire
his own good. And most of all is it natural to man to love God, apart
from whom there can be no existence, no good, and therefore nothing to
love at all. The sins of circle vn do violence, or force, to all these
1 Vide Inf. xxxi, 49 sqq. (in reference to Nature having discretely ceased to produce
giants, though still producing whales and elephants). Cf. Purg. v, 112 sq. where the con-
junction of pure malevolence with intelligence in a devil is noted.
2 The equivocal use of the term malitia in n, as the name both of the genus and of
one of the species it embraces, presents no difficulty. Dante himself makes Fraud (generic)
include Fraud and Treachery as species. Aristotle makes Incontinence (generic) include
Incontinence proper and Incontinence in desire for gain, in temper or in ambition (cf.
p. 278). The Ethics teems with analogous instances.
272 The Ethical System of the 'Inferno '
natural affections. The violenti, instead of taking pleasure in doing
kind offices to their neighbours, take a disinterested delight in torturing
them (cf. Aquinas on Arist. Eth. Nic. vii, 5, 3, [Phalaris] in ipsis
cruciatibus hominum delectabatur) or in devastating their possessions.
Or sometimes the perversion may strike a deeper stratum where the
'violent' hates his own life or makes a wild onslaught on his own
property. But they are most unnatural and ' violent ' of all who hate
God himself and the Nature * which is his art/ (Cf. De Mon. I, iii, 18;
II, ii, 37, and Inf. XI, 100, after Mr Musgrave's certain restoration of ed
e sua arte.} The influence of the Aristotelian phraseology, too, may be
seen in the 'bestial,' that is unhuman, form of the guardians of the
seventh circle, the Minotaur, the Centaurs, the Harpies, and the Black
Bitches. Note too that Aristotle mentions the trick of biting the nails
or plucking at the hair as allied to Oypiorr)?, and Dante's Minotaur gnaws
his own flesh.
It is abundantly evident, then, that the bestiales of the Aristotelian
reference correspond in principle to the violenti of Virgil's first discourse ;
but, more than that, I think it can be shewn that, in this connection,
the terms bestiales and violenti themselves would be regarded by Dante
as synonyms; for we have seen that bestialitas is a breaking out
against nature ; and all through his Physical treatises Aristotle habitu-
ally uses violentus (fticuos) as equivalent to contra naturam. Look, for
example, at Phys. v, vi, 5, or De Caelo, ill, ii, 1, where it is expressly
said that ' to be moved " by violence " or " against nature " is one and the
same thing.' It is true that the context in which Aristotle uses piaios
in this sense is very generally concerned with physical movements. But
this is not always so. He applies the term to monstrous births, for
instance; and he says that taking interest is the most ' unnatural ' of all
ways of making money, and again that the man who wants to make
money for its own sake fiiaibs rt? eanv. Pol. I, iii [x] fin., Eth. Nic. I, v, 8
(1258b 7 sq., 1096 a 6). Aquinas too explains that the violentum is excisio
quaedam ejus quod est secundum naturam, and again, that it is quaedam
exorbitas ab eo quod est secundum naturam (Com. in De Caelo, n, xxiii,
4, i, 9) ; and he applies the term to forced flowers and to contortions of
the body. In the light of these passages (which could be indefinitely
multiplied) it becomes clear that the term ' violent ' could be naturally
applied in the Inferno not only to acts of reckless slaughter or devas-
tation, but to every sort of perverse and unnatural wickedness or depraved
habit that involves the 'elimination' of the natural affections, or the
' exorbitant ' play of animal impulses not specifically human, and, gener-
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 273
ally, anything that runs counter to nature — just such sins, in fact, as
we find in Dante's seventh circle or under the heading of Qiipiorr)? in
Aristotle's Ethics.
As to the frodolenti of circles vni and ix as compared with
Aristotle's malitia, in the narrower sense, it is enough to note that
both classes include all the sins that do not come under the head of
incontinence or of brutish violence, and that both are characterised
by the turning of the specific human faculty of intelligence to evil
ends.
We can now understand why, when Dante told Virgil that he com-
pletely understood his exposition of forza (violenti) and f rode, and then
by his question shewed plainly that he had not so much as noted that the
elaborately described ' violence ' was unhuman brutishness, and had so
missed the running parallel with the Aristotelian division, the teacher
felt some irritation. For it is an interesting fact, which we happen to
know, that Dante himself, the Poet, had been particularly familiar with
this three-fold Aristotelian division of reprehensible dispositions from
early days, and never seems to have had it long out of his mind. It is
worth while to set forth the proof of this.
In the prose framework in which Dante set the poems of the Vita
Naova (written, say, in 1292) he tells us (§ n) that, after meeting
Beatrice as a little girl, in her ninth year, he closely observed her ways
' and found her so noble and praiseworthy that verily of her might
have been said those words of the poet Homer: "She seemed not to be
the daughter of a mortal man, but of God." ' Now Dante had no first-
hand acquaintance with Homer, and his actual quotations from him are
all taken from Aristotle or Horace. This particular one occurs in the
very passage of the Ethics which we are now considering. ' To bestiality
one might reasonably oppose some heroic and divine excellence that
transcends the range of our human virtue, even as Homer makes Priam
say of Hector, because of his supreme excellence, "nor did he seem to be
the child of a mortal man, but of God." ' We see then that at this early
period of his studies Dante was already familiar with the opening of the
seventh book of the Nicomachean Ethics.
We may go further. It is clear that this section of the Ethics had
specially impressed him, and moreover that he had studied the com-
mentary of Aquinas upon it ; for he incorporates a remarkable passage
from this commentary in the third book of the Convivio, written, we
may suppose, in 1308 or a little earlier. In reference to the contrast
between heroic or divine excellence and bestiality, Aquinas says: 'In
M. L. R. xvi. 1 8
274 The Ethical System of the 'Inferno '
evidence of which we must consider that the human soul stands midway
between the higher and divine beings with whom it shares intelligence,
and the brute beasts with whom it shares the faculties of sense. As
then the sensitive parts of the soul are sometimes corrupted in man
even to the similitude of the beasts — which is called bestiality as ex-
ceeding the limits of human vice and incontinence — so likewise the
rational part is sometimes perfected and informed in man beyond the
common measure of human perfection, even as it were to the similitude
of the Immaterial Beings, and this is called divine virtue as beyond the
human and common virtue. For the order of things is such that the
mean touches either extreme on this side or that. Hence in human
nature too there is that which touches the higher, that which is united
with the lower, and that which is of intermediate habit between them/
Compare Dante's ' And because in the intellectual order of the universe
ascent and descent is by almost continuous gradations, there is no inter-
mediate step from the lowest form to the highest, and from the highest
to the lowest (as we see is the case in the sensible order); and because
between the Angelic nature, which is an intellectual existence, and the
human soul, there is no intermediate step, but the one is as it were
continuous with the other in the order of gradation ; and because
between the human soul and the most perfect soul of the brute animals
there is also no intermediary, and because we see many men so vile
and of such base condition as scarce to seem other than beasts, so
also we are to lay it down and firmly to believe that there be some
so noble and of so lofty condition as to be scarce other than angels.
Otherwise the human species would not be continued in either
direction, which may not be. Such as these Aristotle, in the Seventh
of the Ethics, calls divine1.' And again in the Fourth Treatise2 he
recurs to the contrast between the vilissimi e bestiali and the nobilis-
simi e divini amongst men, and he once more refers us directly to the
seventh book of the Ethics and the quotation from Homer. And yet
again, in the De Monarchic^3 Dante returns to the Homeric passage
concerning Hector, and again refers directly to Aristotle ' in iis quae de
moribus fugiendis ad Nicomachum,' i.e. ' in that section of the Nicoma-
chean Ethics which treats of reprehensible conduct.'
It is evident then that Aristotle's three-fold division was familiarly
present to Dante's mind all through his life as a student and a writer;
and the words he puts upon the lips of Virgil shew that he had read
i Convivio ra, vii, 69—90. 2 xx, 30 sqq.
3 ii, iii, 53—57.
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 275
the whole Aristotelian doctrine into Cicero's phrases1. Had Dante, the
student, actually heard a teacher deliver Virgil's discourse to a pupil, he
would at once have recognised it as a luminous commentary on the
Aristotelian locus de moribus fagiendis, and would never have asked the
inept question that drew Virgil's rebuke. But Dante, the poet, is not
so sure of his reader; and he thinks it quite possible that, even after all
the hints that have been given him, the said reader may need an express
reference to Aristotle's actual words and phrases — though he ought to
be ashamed of himself if he does! Only it is a gracious practice of
Dante's, dictated by his subtle sense of sympathy with his reader, to
represent himself as bewildered and as receiving enlightenment from
his guides, whenever he has a difficult point to expound. This practice
is of course essential to the texture of the Comedy, as a dramatic
narrative, and it is due to the consummate sincerity with which this
attitude is maintained that the reader finds himself perpetually under
the illusion that he is really being instructed with Dante and not by him.
It is this that makes the Comedy (the most frankly didactic of all great
poems) so entirely free from the offensive tone of superiority with which
didactic writings are often taxed. But this is not a mere artifice. It
represents the proud Dante's deep humility before the face of his great
teachers. Whether or not, in any special instance, Dante is actually
recording his own former perplexities and taxing himself with obtuse-
ness in so long failing to see the obvious solution that lay within his
grasp, we may be sure that the general impression we receive of Dante
the pilgrim truly represents what Dante the man thought of himself.
It was his sincere conviction that, when his gifts and his opportunities
were weighed, the wonder was not that he saw so much but that he had
been so slow to see it.
It would perhaps be enquiring too curiously to ask whether, in this
special instance, reminiscences are embedded of Dante's own slowness to
connect a somewhat detached passage in Cicero's De Ojficiis with the
opening of Aristotle's seventh book, and the light he ultimately gained
from bringing them together ; but in any case the passage so understood
1 It is equally obvious, of course, that Cicero himself did not mean all that Dante read
into him. In the first place, he uses the substantive vis but not the adjective violentus so
significantly introduced by Dante. And in the second place, even if he had used it, it could
not, in his day, have borne the technical meaning it acquired as a translation of Aristotle's
/Sicuos. The nearest approach to such a use that I have found cited from a classical author
is where Seneca's Hecuba laments that she should have been left alive when Astyanax and
Polyxena were murdered :
Sola mors, votum meum,
Infantibus violenta, virginibus venis,
Ubicunque properas, saeva: me solam times. — (Troades, 1171 sqq.)
18—2
276 The Ethical System of the ' Inferno '
would well illustrate that humility with which Dante is seldom credited
— deep and beautiful as it is — because, while he parades his pride, he
does not parade his humility.
As we stand at the close of this long investigation, the question may
well arise whether the whole of the Inferno was really composed with
the scheme in view which is expanded in the eleventh Canto. There
is much to suggest that in the earlier Cantos the design had been
drawn to a smaller scale. In ten Cantos we have traversed six out of
the nine circles of Hell, and (apart from the Heathen and the Heretic)
we seem to be following quite simply the succession of the well known
seven Capital Vices. It looks as if this earlier portion of the Poem
had been ultimately set in a larger framework for which it was not
originally designed.
If this were so, we should suppose that when the Poet determined
to amplify the later parts of the Inferno and found it convenient to
desert the simple method of treating successively the seven Capital
Vices, his mind had already conceived the grandiose architecture and
elaborated the number scheme that now dominates the whole Poem ;
and that he found in the Aristotelian three-fold division of ' reprehen-
sible actions ' a scheme that would admit the part of his now deserted
plan that he had already executed, and yet would give him the larger
canvas that he required for the new one. The symmetry of the
3 + 1 + 3 = 7 was indeed to some extent irretrievably compromised, but
the most essential element in it might yet be preserved, by dividing
Fraud into two degrees and getting a4 + l + 2 = 7. The rest of the
scheme would fit in reasonably well.
That something like this must have happened, and is the reason
why the ethical and topographical features of the Inferno never seem
to justify themselves by any such self-evident consistency as marks the
Purgatorio and the Paradiso, is apparent from other considerations.
The contrast has often been remarked between the simplicity, the swift-
ness, and the comparative absence of topographical precision1 that
characterise the Cantos that tell of the Poet's progress through the
earlier circles of Hell, and the unexpected expansion, the harder tone,
and the rigidly defined topography that we find further on. Such
considerations have given more credit than it would otherwise have
received to the well authenticated tradition preserved by Boccaccio that
1 The symmetrical diagrams of the journey of poets through Hell that are current in
most of the editions and diagrams are unauthorised by the text in many of their details
so far as the early circles are concerned, and depend for their general character upon a
note in Inf. xiv, 126 which may well be an afterthought of Dante's.
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 277
Dante had written the first seven Cantos before his exile, and resumed
the work afterwards on recovering his manuscript.
But on the other hand the De Vulgari Eloquentia, which was certainly
written after Dante's exile, admits no art forms in Italian verse except
the Canzone, the Ballata, and the Sonetto. All else is ' illegitimate and
irregular.' It can hardly be supposed that when Dante wrote thus he
had already composed seven Cantos of the Inferno in Italian. And
again, I hope to shew elsewhere that Virgil and Beatrice could not
have taken the places they already occupy in the first two Cantos of
the Inferno until the author's set of mind revealed in the Convivio had
yielded to that of the De Monarchia. Whatever earlier material was
incorporated in the Comedy, its organism, of which the second and part
of the first Cantos of the Inferno are an essential constituent; can
scarcely have been articulated before the fall of Henry, in 1313.
Would not all the difficulties disappear if we might suppose that
the pre-exilian manuscript was not written in Italian, but was the
Latin poem which, according to Boccaccio, Dante began but afterwards
abandoned in favour of Italian ? If Dante had carried his Latin hexa-
meters so far as to cover in a few hundred lines the first four of the
Capital Vices, and on receiving his lost, work again had thrown it into
the Italian form, he might, perhaps years afterwards, have incorporated
it in the wider scheme of which the first two Cantos of the Comedy as
we now have it are the prologue. The lines that Boccaccio gives as th$
opening of the Latin poem quite lend themselves to such a hypothesis ;
but its highly speculative character forbids its being urged as any more
than a tentative suggestion, though it is one that naturally arises out
of a study of the ' Ethical system of the Inferno' and may fitly close it.
APPENDIX.
I have thought it best to develop the positive exposition of Inf. XI
on its own lines, with the minimum of controversial reference to
divergent views. But a brief examination of some of the points on
which, in my opinion, mistakes have been made, may naturally follow
as a supplement.
The contention already noticed that the three-fold Aristotelian
division of incontinenza, bestialitade and malizia is not intended to
apply in its integrity to the main divisions of the Inferno, but is
introduced merely with reference to Dante's perplexity as to four of
the circles of the Upper Hell, seems to rest on the assumption that
there is a closer and more easily recognisable correspondence between
278 The Ethical System of the 'Inferno '
the Incontinent of Aristotle's scheme and the denizens of circles n —
IV of the Inferno than there is between Aristotle's @Tjpia)Sew and the
violent* of circle vn or between Aristotle's Ka/cia and the frodolenti
of circles VI II and IX, so that, when Virgil gives at full length the three
Aristotelian categories of misconduct, Dante might naturally understand
that two of them had nothing to do with the matter in hand but were
only introduced because they happened to be in the context.
But the fact is that the correspendence between the Incontinent
of Aristotle's Ethics and the Incontinent of Dante's Hell is far from
complete. Aristotle carefully distinguishes between the ' incontinent '
man who tries to control his unregulated appetites (because he knows
that their indulgence is reprehensible) but sometimes fails, and the
' dissolute ' man who has no scruples and who deliberately indulges his
feeblest inclinations. Semiramis, according to this doctrine, would have
been an ideal representative of Dissoluteness as distinct from Inconti-
nence ; and it must be confessed that the inclusion of such as her in
the same circle with Dido and Francesca, or of Filippo Argenti in
another circle of Incontinence rather than in circle VII, greatly
weakens the application to Dante's Hell of Aristotle's plea for the
comparatively venial character of Incontinence.
Again, Aristotle is very careful to limit incontinence, properly so
called, to the sphere of the senses of taste and touch (with some further
distinctions). Thus none but those unchaste or gluttonous offenders,
who yield under the assault of strong temptation and are always sorry
afterwards, should, according to Aristotle, be regarded as ' incontinent '
in the proper sense. One hardly conceives of Ciacco's case as covered
by this definition.
In a secondary sense, Aristotle allows us to speak of incontinence
in the love of gain or of distinction, or in the matter of temper, but
then we ought to add an expressly qualifying word to indicate this
restricted use of the term. Yet more, Aristotle takes elaborate pains
to shew that incontinence is less blameworthy in the matter of temper
than in that of the appetites, because inter alia it is unpleasant to be
angry, so that a man is not likely to court ill temper for the sake of
indulging it ; and also because, at the moment, an angry man generally
thinks that he does well to be angry and may believe himself to be
obeying the orders of reason, though, in reality, like a hasty servant,
he has rushed to execute the order before he has rightly heard what
it is. But all these points, so elaborately developed by Aristotle, are
ignored or contradicted in the Inferno. Anger comes lower down than
PHILIP H. WICKSTEED 279
sins of the appetites, no room at all is found for incontinence in pursuit
of distinction, and no difference is recognised between incontinence
proper and dissoluteness.
The case of dripiorys is closely similar. Dante seizes the main idea
and develops it in accordance with his own ethical principles. He em-
phasises the un-natural and particularly the un-human character of this
class of sins, and so includes suicide, usury and (for the sake perhaps of
symmetry) the mad assault which the habitual gambler makes upon his
own property ; and he drops out morbid timidity, which Aristotle (also
perhaps for symmetry) includes among the exorbitant passions. But
he adheres to the most striking examples, and he preserves the main
conception in its integrity.
Incidentally he finds in the Ciceronian vis, understood in the Aris-
totelian sense, a term preferable in this connection to the Aristotelian
bestialitas, inasmuch as this latter word had a considerable range of
varied application in the Latin and Italian of Dante (vid. infr. p. 280),
whereas violentus exactly defines the ' unnatural ' character that is the
special note of O^pioTTj^ and of circle vn.
In dealing with incontinence Dante simplified Aristotle (if indeed
he was giving any direct thought to him when he wrote of the early
circles). In dealing with forza = bestialitas he systematised him. But,
so far from there being a closer correspondence in the former than in
the latter case, it seems truer to say that a careful examination will
raise more than a suspicion that, while the Aristotelian division sug-
gested Dante's treatment of later classes of sin and dominates it
throughout, it was imposed upon the earlier portion of the poem post
factum, though not without success.
And, if Dante's (or rather Cicero's, as understood by Dante) violenti
are a preciser and in some respects a better equivalent to Aristotle's
0rjpid)8€i$, something similar may be said, in a lesser degree, of f rode
with respect to xa/cLa ; for in truth, when Aristotle says (Eth. Nic. VII, 1)
that /ca/cia is the opposite of apertj, he gives it, by implication, a wider
signification than he wishes it to bear, and he somewhat blurs the
distinction between it and d/cpao-ia, whereas the Ciceronian fraus brings
out very well the heinousness of turning the intelligence, which is the
proper glory of man, to purposes of shame, and marks off such conduct
quite clearly from mere incontinence.
Another divergent interpretation of the relation between Virgil's
first discourse and his Aristotelian citation consists in equating Fraud
with bestialitas and Violence with malitia, instead of vice versa. This
280 The Ethical System of the 'Inferno '
obviously mistaken conception apparently rests on no better foundation
than the order in which inalitia and bestialitade happen to appear in
Inf. xi, 32 ff. and Eth. NIC. vn, 1,1, and it would hardly have been
necessary to mention it were it not that it has found hospitality in a once
popular Italian edition that may still fall into the hands of a beginner.
And, lastly, there is a striking passage in the Convivio which im-
presses itself with singular vividness on the memory of the reader and
has given rise to a vain but persistently recurrent attempt to identify
the bestiales, not with the Violent, but with the Heretics of circle vn.
The passage, which occurs in the ninth chapter of the second Book,
should be read in its entirety; but the phrase with which we are
immediately concerned runs as follows : ' Per proponimento dico, che
intra tutte le bestialitadi quella e stoltissima, vilissima e dannosissima
chi crede, dopo questa vita, altra vita non essere.' And since it so
happens that the Epicureans, the only class of Heretics with whom
Dante holds special converse in the sixth circle of Hell, were parti-
cularly identified with this supreme ' bestialitade,' many readers have
fallen, and will probably continue to fall, into the temptation of making
an isolated identification of the bestiales with the Heretics, though it is
impossible to incorporate it into any organic system of interpretation
whatever. The truth is that bestialitas and its Italian equivalent are
used by Dante and the Schoolmen in a wide variety of meanings.
The underlying idea, when precise, is always the absence of some-
thing specifically human. Thus, since legal or sacramental marriage is a
specifically human institution, Bonaventura declares that all unchastity
is bestialis, and it is exactly in this sense that Dante himself uses the
word in a much-worried passage in the twenty-sixth Canto of the Pur-
gatorio. Now since Reason is generally regarded by medieval writers
as the one supreme characteristic of Man, the popular use of bestialitade
for 'stupidity' or 'folly' — always like the French betise, expressing serious
irritation — was really a strictly scientific term. And it is in this sense
that Dante himself uses the word, not only in the passage under con-
sideration but in Convivio IV, xiv, 107, where, with reference to a
peculiarly exasperating and inane argument to which he supposes his
adversary might possibly descend, he exclaims 'risponder si vorrebbe non
colle parole ma col coltello a tanta bestialita.' It is clear that in the
passage about the immortality of the soul the word is used in this
general sense of ' stupidity/ and that there is no intention whatever of
giving Epicurean misbelievers such a monopoly of it that, under all circum-
stances and in every context, it is to be regarded as their hall-mark.
CHILDREY, BERKS. PHILIP H. WlCKSTEED.
SOME SPANISH CONCEPTIONS OF ROMANTICISM.
WHAT Romanticism meant in Spain is a question which has yet to
be answered. Certain features there are in it with which everyone is
familiar, whether because they are common to other countries, or for the
opposite reason — that they are strikingly peculiar to Spain. But the
relative importance of each of these elements, and the proportion which
each may claim in the total product of the Romantics, it will be the
principal task of the future historian of Spanish Romanticism to deter-
mine. This task will be all the harder because the Spanish movement
reached its climax late, was partially obscured by those foreign influences
which in another sense enlightened it, and was led by men who had not
always that clear purpose which may provoke enmity but dispels mis-
understanding. The intention of this article is to set out some of the
leading conceptions and misconceptions of Spanish Romanticism held
by the leading writers of its formative period and by the contributors
during this period to the leading periodicals of Spain.
The period which we shall cover may be taken as the first third of
the nineteenth century, or, more exactly, down to the year 1835. The
last-named date will generally be recognised as marking the point (as
nearly as any one date can do so) at which the national Spanish type of
Romanticism was formed. ( In the spring of this year appeared Rivas'
Don Alvaro, which, much more truly than Macias or the Conjuration
de Venecia, was the typical Romantic drama. It was in this year that
Eugenio de Ochoa did battle for Don Alvaro, styling it a 'terrible
personification del siglo xix1/ and opposing to classicism, which to him
was ' testarudo, intolerante, atrabiliario2/ a very definite conception of
the contrary ideal. Finally he could write in the summer of 1835 : ' Ya
es evidente que el romanticismo, bueno o malo, existe ; y no es poco
haber logrado tamano triunfo3.'
I.
Let us first consider the conceptions of some typical Romantically-
minded writers during this formative period of the movement. We shall
1 In the Artista, VolA, p. 177. 2 Ibid., Vol. i, p. 36.
3 Ibid., Vol. n, p. 47, and cf. Vol. in, p. 1 (1836), where he describes the triumph in
greater detail.
282 Some Spanish conceptions of Romanticism
not expect at first to find these conceptions very clear ones. The whole
controversy between Bohl von Faber and Jose Joaquin de Mora1 reveals,
as we shall see, a very one-sided idea of the ' cuestion suscitada acerca
del merito o demerito de los au tores dramaticos, clasicos y romancescos V
of which so much mention is made. And this is natural enough. Political
upheavals had disturbed the course of literature ; the various foreign
influences were contending for the mastery in Spain ; and the precise
relation between the nascent ideals of Romanticism and that timid
reformation which had sprung up at the end of the preceding century
was not at all easy for the writer of 1810 to 1820 to determine.
The first important document to be considered under this head is
the Europeo. In this journal — of which I have already given a short
account elsewhere3 — we find so much material that it is not hard to
evaluate the editors' conception of Romanticism — a conception not
typically Spanish indeed, but one which must have influenced Spanish
thought very considerably in the decade of pre-Romanticisrn which
ended with the chefs-d'oeuvre of Martinez de la Rosa, Rivas, Gutierrez
and Hartzenbusch.
Monteggia's threefold test of the ' essence o£ Romanticism ' (Oct. 25,
1823) maybe summarised as follows: I. Style: \Quoting from the Genie
du Christianisme, he shews how the mysteries of the Christian religion
succeeded Greek mythology as material for the poet's imagination to
work upon. ) The Northern bards, the Druids and the chivalrous Moors
further inspired the troubadour with themes which ousted those of
antiquity^ Slavish adherence to classical legend is one of the signs of
the anti- Romantic of all ages ; though the true classic is no slavish
imitator4. Summing up : the chief mark of Romantic style is 'un colorido
sencillo, melanco'lico, sentimental, que mas interesa el ammo que la
fantasia5.' The examples given are Manzoni's Conte di Carmagnola,
Schiller's Maria Stuart, Atala, Rene, The Corsair and Childe Harold.-
Finally the writer notes the tendency of the Romantics (notably in
Byron's Manfred) to exaggerations of this 'melancholy' style. II. Argu-
1 See Camille Pitollet, La querelle calderonienne de J. N. Bohl von Faber et J. J. de
Mora, Paris, Alcan, 1909.
2 Diario Mercantil de Cadiz, August 12, 1818, Vol. n, No. 741. A question which has
an important bearing on the subject of this article, namely the use during this period of
the words romanesco, romancesco and ronidntico, I am compelled for lack of space to post-
pone for separate treatment.
3 Modern Language Revieiv, Oct. 1920, pp. 375 ff., in conjunction with which this article
should be read as no quotations are repeated in full.
4 Cf. Giovanni Berchet's Lettera semiseria di Crisostomo. '
5 Cf. Visconti in Nos. 23-8 of the Conciliatore for 1818. Herfi, in an exposition of Idee
elementari sulla poesia romantica, he attacks equally with classical mythology the paladins,
fairies, magicians, etc., of the Ariosto type of epic.
E. ALLISON PEERS 283
ment : ( Romanticism prefers the mediaeval to the ancient theme (e.g.
Crusades, Discovery of the New World, Revolutions of modern ages),
declaring that the classical subject lends itself only to conventional
treatment. ^The classical hero has to be endowed with modern sentiments
if he is to be made real ; and this transformation has often been effected
by the great Romantics (e.g. by Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar) working
by ' nature and the human heart.' III. Execution ( The Romantic lyric
is freer in its technique ; the instrument is suited to the theme instead
of being subjected to arbitrary 'rules?\ In the drama the differences are
even greater: the Classicists rigorously observe the unities, while the
Romantics 'only recognise the unity ofjiiterest1.' A detailed discussion
of the unities follows. IV. The article ends rather abruptly by a counsel
to the reader to study the works of ' Schloegel, Sismondi, Manzoni, y de
lo_que han dejado escrito sobre este particular los redactores del Con-
ciliatore de Milan- en Lombardia.' The writer was of course an Italian.
On Nov. 22, 1823, L6pez Soler contributes an article entitled
' Examen sobre el caracter superficial de nuestro siglo.' We are a de-
cadent nation (is its trend) ; we have lost all respect for religion ; we
are content to rest upon our great achievements of the seventeenth
century ; and in literature we are imitators, not authors, with the sterile
qualities of erudition in place of the fertile gifts of genius.
The article 'Analisis -de la cuestion agitada entre romanticos y
clasicistas ' which Lopez Soler writes in the following number does not
fulfil the expectations which this jeremiad arouses. Its aim is to 'con-
ciliate ' the rival literary schools, and it is written ' in no party spirit.'
The. three great external influences upon all poetry arex^l) Religion,
(2) Nature, (3) local conditions and customs. Each of these has con-
tributed towards the making of Romanticism. As to the first the heroes \
of Christianity compared with those of Homer are by their nature more \
inclined to the type of the Romantic hero2, and in other ways thei
Christian religion has moulded the Romantic author. As to Nature, it*
is noteworthy that in the countries where Romanticism was born she
wears a gloomier and more melancholy dress, while the customs of those
same countries also favour the modern genre. Contrast the wars of the
1 ' Lo que en los antiguos era un atraso (dicen los romanticos) ha servido de regla a los
ciegos imitadores de todo lo que proviene de ellos. Consecuencia de este error son las
inverosimilitudes...que mas choc(an) al publico que el no mudar de escenas.' 'Los roman-
ticos no reconocen mas que una sola unidad que es la de interes. ' The writer was perhaps
influenced by Visconti's Dialogo intorno alle unita di tempo e di luogo nelle opere dram-
matiche, which was published in the Conciliatore for 1819.
2 ' Menos entusiastas y mas recogidos, menos brillantes y mas melancblicos, mas
pundonorosos y menos ligeros.'
284 Some Spanish conceptions of Romanticism
Romans with the struggles of Christians and Mahometans, the fierce
brilliance of the Olympic games with the jousts of the Middle Ages,
with their incentives to valour and honour alike !
Thus far Ldpez Soler evidently conceives of Romanticism as a natural
outcome of advancing civilisation, as one of the developments of modern
life. In the conclusion of his article (Dec. 6, 1823) he presents it as an
ideal of equal beauty with that of Classicism, but as an alternative and
nothing more. (There is good (and bad) in the practice of Classicism
and Romanticism alike. Why then should the partisans of the one
attack the other as they do ? }
Deduciremos de aqui que los romanticos ban debido escribir con el orden y estilo
que les repreenden los clasicos, pero que estos no han de advertir en su sistema
niuguna injuria al autor de la Odisea, pues cuando nuevas causas piden un nuevo
estilo esto no supone que se haya destruido el antiguo sino que la literatura se ha
enriquecido con un nuevo genero.
The contributions of these two writers to Spanish Romanticism are
in the sum not large. It is evident that they conceive of Romanticism
more as a matter of content than as one of form ; this alone puts them
back into the period of pre-Romanticism as judged by standards of Italy
or France. To take their ideas separately, Monteggia, though he offers
many parallels with Berchet, Di Breme and Manzoni, seems free from
many specifically Italian influences : there is, for instance, none of that
strongly moral and patriotic feeling in his work which characterises
Italian even more than Spanish Romanticism1, and none of the Italian
emphasis of art in Romantic literature. If occasional phrases (like that
from Visconti cited above2) seem to indicate Italian influence, Monteggia
in general rather suggests the theories of Mme de Stael and A. W.
Schlegel with the superposition of the emotionalism of Chateaubriand
and Byron.
L6pez Soler is, at this stage, less advanced than his colleague, and
suggests A. W. Schlegel even more strongly. Particularly is this so in
his idea of a possible ' conciliation ' between the two ideals3. It will be
remembered how A. W. Schlegel, in his lecture on the English and
Spanish dramas, suggests that, with regard to Shakespeare and Calderon,
their merits should not be considered 'rather from a national than a
general point of view/ and adds : ' But here a reconciling criticism must
1 Cf. for example Manzoni 's Lettera al marchese d'Azeglio (Sept. 20, 1823), Torti's
Sermoni sulla Poesia (1818), etc.
a And again the idea of America as a ' Komantic ' theme, which Visconti, unlike most
Bomanticists of his day, expresses.
3 Which was an idea not unknown in Italy also. Cf. Eomagnosi in No. 3 of the Con-
ciliatore, who invents the word ilichiastico to express the attitude of those who rejected
the terms 'classic' and 'romantic' and declared themselves 'men of their age.'
E. ALLISON PEERS 285
step in ; and this, perhaps, may be best exercised by a German, who is
free from the national peculiarities of either Englishmen or Spaniards,
yet by inclination friendly to both, and prevented by no jealousy from
acknowledging the greatness which has been earlier exhibited in other
countries than his own1/ The rdle of Schlegel's unbiassed German L6pez
Soler seems here to be giving himself, but his ' vermittelnde Kritik '
unfortunately fails to reach the root of the matter. If it had done this,
instead of merely asking for ' some of each/ his work would have been
better worthy of our attention2.
Duran's well-known Discurso (1828)3 was, as its editor said, 'el
verdadero precursor del romanticismo ; abrio paso al renacimiento de
la forma y del gusto genuinamente espanoles/ And it deserves this title
principally because, for Duran, Spanish Romanticism meant nothing less
than a return to the Golden Age. ' To avoid circumlocutions,' as he says,
he will describe early Spanish drama as 'romantico' from the beginning.
And the ideal of this drama, which is now being re-created by Schiller,
Byron, Scott and others — with ' mas verdad y filosofia, pero acaso menos
belleza y cultura ' — is a presentation which shall be neither abstract nor
theoretical, but as it truly was, or is, in life4. Classic literature on the
other hand regards man solely after his external actions. ' Sus virtudes
y vicios se consideran en abstracto, prescindiendo siempre del sujeto a
quien se aplican; por lo cual el protagonista de ellas carece de toda
1 Vorlesungen ilber dramatische Kunst und Literatur, Black's translation, p. 341. The
original reads : Konnte man einen Lands- und Zeitgenossen und verstandigen Bewunderer
des Shakspeare, und einen andern des Calderon wieder auferwecken, und sie mit den
Werken des ihnen fremden Dichters bekannt machen, so wiirden beide, mehr von einem
nationalen als allgemeinen Gesichtspunkte ausgehend, ohne Zweifel sich nur mit Miihe
hinein versetzen, und viel dagegen einzuwenden haben. Hier muss nun die vermittelnde
Kritik eintreten, die vielleicht von einem Deutschen am besten ausgeiibt werden kann, der
weder in englischer noch in spanischer Nationalitat befangen, aber einer wie der andern
durch Neigung befreundet ist, und durch keine Eifersucht gehindert wird, das Grosse, was
friiher im Auslande geleistet worden, anzuerkennen. ' The critic adds in a footnote, with
respect to his ' vermittelnde Kritik,' that the term was first used by Herr Adam Miiller in
his Vorlesungen uber deutsche Wissenschaft und Literatur, but that the idea of reconciling
differences in taste, (um) ' aller achten Poesie und Kunst die gehorige Anerkennung zu
verschaffen,' is very much older than Miiller.
2 It may be added that Lopez Soler's conception of Eomanticism as a ' new genre '
reminds one of the ideas in Di Breme's Discorso intorno air ingiustizia di alcuni giudizt
letterari, Milan, 1816.
3 Its full title is : Discurso sobre el inftujo que ha tenido la critica moderna en la
decadencia del teatro antiguo espanol, y sobre el modo con que debe ser considerado para
juzgar convenientemente de su merito peculiar. It was published in Madrid in the year 1828,
but is here quoted as reprinted in Vol. n of Memorias de la Academia Espanola.
4 Ed. cit., pp. 312-13. 'Tampoco el poeta romantico suele proponerse pintar un siglo
o una nacion entera, presentando un protagonista, ideal o historico, al cual atribuye y
reviste, no de un vicio o una virtud aislada, sino de todas aquellas pasiones, habitos y
costumbres que pueden caracterizar la epoca o naci6n que trata de retratar.' He promises
a further discourse which shall shew the progress so far made by Eomanticism in the
nineteenth century.
286 Some Spanish conceptions of Romanticism
individualidad que le caracterice y distinga esencialmente de los demas
hombres dominados de cierta y determinada pasion1.' The works of the
classic writer have a ' fin moral, fijo y determinado,' which aim with the
Romantic, whose object is the presentation of individual characters, takes
quite a secondary place.
I" Classic drama proceeds from the ' religious and social system of the
ancient Greeks and Romans,' Romantic drama from the ' chivalric cus-
toms of the Middle Ages ; from its traditions, whether historical or
legendary ; and from the spiritual side of Christianity2.' \
VThe freedom which Romanticism claims is a consequence of this. It
is because of the lofty, often the religious themes of the Romantic poet,
and because he paints from tHe life, that he evolves * sublimities of
thought and audacities of metaphor,' which, together with the require-
ments of his characterisation, make it impossible for him to accept such
rules as those of the Unities. Not only does he throw off the fetters of
restricted time and place, but he uses as many modes of expression as
he finds in life itself3.
This view of Romanticism as essentially the mediseval, Christian
(ideal, individualistic and natural, desiring freedom of art to carry out its
aims without hindrance/ is not unlike Monteggia's, up to this point.
Where Duran acquires/ a distinctive importance is, of course, in his
identification of this ideal with the drama of the Golden Age, and (as
shewn by his other work) with the romances of Old Spain. His concern
is primarily with Spanish Romanticism. There is not a word of Victor
Hugo, and very few words about France, in the entire Discurso. Its
author assumes that the Spanish Romantic Movement will be genuinely
Spanish.
The Boletin de Comercio, which was published from 1832 to 1834,
is not primarily literary, and professes at its commencement to have
purely practical aims. But as it proceeds it becomes more definitely of
literary value ; articles by Breton, Gil y Zarate and Estebanez Caldertfn
appear ; and the unsigned contributions are of a kind which justifies
1 Ed. cit., p. 313.
2 Ibid., p. 314.
3 Ibid., pp. 315-16 : ' For esta causa, y para conservar la verosimilitud propia del
genero, el poeta presta a los interlocutores el lenguaje adecuado a las circunstancias,
caracter y situacion de cada uno, valiendose a veces de esta diversidad de tonos para formar
el contraste entre la idealidad poetica y la verdad prosaica. De aqui precede que los modos
de expresion tragico, lirico, bucolico, satirico, y c6mico se hallan admitidos y amalgamados
en el drama romantico.' A note (d), p. 328, adds : 'La metafisica de las pasiones y los
monologos largos son por esta causa indispensables al genero romantico, pues sin ellos no
podrian ni retratarse los sentimientos intimos del alma y de la conciencia, ni graduarse la
marcha imperceptible de los movimientos que a cada paso modifican al hombre indi-
vidual.'
E. ALLISON PEERS 287
their quotation as serious criticisms1. There is, from our present stand-
point, but one article of the first importance in the Boletin, namely that
on the present state and the prospects of Spanish literature2. This
article (unsigned) has four main theses, the indication of which will be
sufficient description of its contents :
1. It laments the present servile state of Spanish literature.
Es una verdad harto dolorosa, y que en vano tratariamos de ocultar con un mal
entendido orgullo : no marchamos en las producciones del entendimiento al nivel de
las demas naciones ilustradas de Europa. Lo mas que hacemos es trasplantar a
veces lo que otras producen ; pero en cuanto a originalidad, nuestro ingenio no da
hace ya tiempo sino escasos y debiles destellos.
2. The ' new movement,' which arose at the end of the eighteenth
century, was unhappily led by authors in love with French tradition,
and nothing of the first class was being produced when the French
invasion put a stop to all literary activities. (This seems fairly evident,
but the important point is that the writer has a more clearly defined
idea of the work of the school in question than many writers of his day.)
3. There is a great future and it is in the hands of the young
patriotic writers of Spain.
En medio de (las disensiones) se ha formado una juventud que arde en vivisimos
deseos de ser util a su patria. For todas paries pululan ingenios que anhelan
lanzarse a la carrera, anunciando talentos no vulgares. Acaso en ningiin tiempo ha
ofrecido Espana tal multitud de jovenes atletas que se presentan en la liza, no solo
con ardor, sino con armas poderosas : pues todos ellos prueban que se hallan
formados en excelente esouela. [What school does he mean ?] Dentro de alguuos aiios
es de esperar que si encuentran libre campo para ejercer sus talentos, brillara la
aurora de una nueva epoca gloriosa para nuestra literatura. El movimiento esta
dado : s61o falta que continue.
4. But this new school will be different from the last : the spirit of
revolt is now abroad.
De veinte anos a esta parte el influjo de las revoluciones que han agitado a los
imperios se ha comunicado tambien a la literatura. Los preceptos aristotelicos...han
sufrido embates poderosos que ponen en peligro su existencia. Novadores atrevidos
se han lanzado al palenque, y han desbaratado el santuario donde aquellos principios
se guardaban en respetuosa veneracion. Hase vuelto a entronizar el imperio de la
imaginaci6n, y he aqui que se presentan de nuevo con la frente erguida y laureada
los escritores audaces que en Espaiia, Inglaterra y Alemania no reconocieron nunca
las trabas del clasicismo. Los mismos Franceses... se rebelan ahora, y son los mas
ardientes en destruir el edificio de sus antiguas leyes literarias.
It seems not unfair to say that this article, with its contempt for
1 For further description see Le Gentil, Les Revues litteraires de I'Espagne, Hachette,
1909, pp. 40-2.
2 Vol. i, No. 25. (Feb. 8, 1833.) Other articles of importance for a general study of
Eomanticism are : Vision literaria (No. 36) ; Sobre la literatura y las artes de la edad media
(No. 51) ; El Tiempo (No. 95); Los libros de la edad media (No. 129); and a large number
of reviews and minor notices.
288 Some Spanish conceptions of Romanticism
French classicism and for classicism in general1^ conceives Spanish Roman-
ticism to be a living force, intimately associated with patriotism, and
taking the best elements of the French revolutionary school, then in
its prime, without imitating particular authors or particular phases of
the Romantic movement. This is also characteristic of the far-sighted
views of Larra. Praising Martinez de la Rosa's poetry2, he foresees that
the day of Gessner and Melendez is, for the time being, past, and that
Byron and Lamartine hold sway. The new ' golden age ' of Spain is to
come, he tells us so late as May 18343; it has not arrived yet.
Busquemos en Espana desgraciados y oprimidos j pero literates ? ... Si bien luce
algim ingenio todavfa de cuando en cuando, nuestra literatura sin embargo no es
mas que un gran brasero apagado, entre cuyas cenizas brilla ami palida y oscilante
tal cual chispa rezagada. Nuestro siglo de oro ha pasado ya, y nuesbro siglo xix no
ha llegado todavia3.
In an almost contemporaneous article he describes the new pheno-
menon of Romanticism — ' el drama romantico, nuevo, original, cosa
nunca hecha ni oida, cometa que aparece por primera vez en el sistema
literario con su cola y sus colas de sangre y de mortandad, el unico
verdadero,' and speaks of it as a discovery hidden from every age and
reserved for the ' Colones del siglo xix.' He then attempts 'in one word'
to define the ' discovery ' of Romantic drama. ' En una palabra,' he says,
it is ' la naturaleza en las tablas, la luz, la verdad, la libertad en literatura,
el derecho del hombre reconocido, la ley sin ley4.'
II.
Here, then, we have some representative constructive conceptions ;
let us turn now to the opponents of Romanticism, and to those who,
while belonging definitely to neither side, were pleased to throw
occasional stones at the innovators and to ridicule their exaggerations
without standing up squarely to do battle against their principles. We
shall see at once that these critics had no such broad and comprehensive
1 As appears very clearly fiom passages not quoted in the above summary. Thus : ' Los
franceses...vieron que no podian tener literatura si no la fundaban en la exacta proporcion
y belleza de las formas, en lo escogido de los pensamientos, y en el exquisite gusto que
dirigio siempre a los grandes maestros de la antigiiedad.' ' Su lengua [i.e. la lengua
francesa] no podia producir aquellos sonidos halagiienos que habian seducido los oidos de
los espanoles.' Ho passim.
2 In the Revista espailola, 1833, p. 836: 'La tendencia del siglo es otra...Buscamos
mas bien en el dia la importante y profunda inspiracion de Lamartine, y hasta la descon-
soladora filosofia de Byron que la ligera y fugitiva impresi6n de Anacreonte.' He attributes
the preference, however, to the decadence of his times.
3 In the Revista espaiiola, 1834, p. 484 : ' En poesia,' he adds, ' estamos aun a la altura
de los arroyuelos murmuradores, de la t6rtola triste, de la palomita de Filis, de Batilo y
Menalcas, de las delicias de la vida pastoril, del caramillo y del recental, de la leche y del
miel, y otras fantasmagorias por este estilo.'
4 In the Revista Espaiiola, March 1835, p. 34, article entitled Una primera representation.
E* ALLISON PEERS 289
idea of the movement as the writers mentioned above. And, further,
we may say at once that they fastened in the main on two points, from
which they rarely departed : (1) the impatience of the Romantics with
restrictions like those of the Unities — an attitude which they were
pleased to interpret as meaning opposition to all rules and an ideal of
complete lawlessness ; and (2) the exaggerations of modern Romanticists,
mainly those of England and France.
As an extreme — and an early — example of the kind of opposition
which the new movement encountered, we may profitably quote from
the three periodicals which between 1814 and 1820 formed the battle-
ground of Bohl von Faber and Mora. These are the Mer curio Gaditano1
(1814); the Gronica cientifica y literaria de Madrid (1817-20); and
the more robust Diario mercantil de Cddiz, which may be consulted
continuously during the whole period of the controversy.
To the Gronica Romanticism is no fit subject for serious con-
sideration :
Hoy dfa las ideas sobre la literatura ban sufrido extranas mudanzas y aberra-
ciones. Hemos querido sacudir el yugo de las tradiciones literarias, suplir con la
inspiration del genio la falta de disciplina, y las vaporosidades Ossianicas ban osado
usurpar el'trono del cantor de Aquiles2.
Its innovations are 'vaporosas irregularidades3'; its exponents sup full
of horrors, their heroes being ' asesinos, salteadores, brujas, magos, cor-
sarios, diablos y hasta vampiros4'; its literary productions are described
as the 'irruptions of our modern vandals5/ These phrases are little
more than repetitions of the polemic of the Mercurio (' la moda de
desacreditar las reglas eternas del gusto, y de sacudir el yugo de los
preceptos6'; 'este ge"nero es menester que sea detestable7' etc.), and
the whole controversy in the Diario mercantil de Cadiz turns upon the
double question of irregularities and exaggerations8.
It is easier to understand the emphasis laid on these aspects of the
movement in 1818 — or even later, after Victor Hugo's quotation of
Lope de Vega in the Preface de Cromwell9 — than the extraordinary
1 A continuation of tbe more accessible Redactor General de Cddiz. Jt is to be found in
the Biblioteca Provincial of Cadiz, but I bave searched without any success for it elsewhere.
Only five months are included in the one volume published, which ends at No. 158 without
explanation.
3 Gronica etc., No. 11 (May 6, 1817). 3 Ibid., No. 126.
4 Ibid., No. 275. » Ibid., No. 306.
6 Mercurio Gaditano, No. 127 (Sept. 22, 1814). 7 i^id., No. 127.
8 It is unnecessary to labour this point since M. Pitollet's study of the controversy,
reconstructed from the original documents and mentioned above,. is readily available.
9 'Quando he de escrivir una comedia,
Encierro los preceptos con seis Haves.'
(Quoted in Preface de Cromwell.)
M. L. R. XVI. 1 9
290 Some Spanish conceptions of Romanticism
judgment on Duran's Discurso which a critic contributed to the Correo
Literario y Mercantil1 :
El resultado de todo es que lo que el senor Duran parece entender por genero
romantico no es otra cosa que la mezcla de la tragedia y de la comedia, sin sujeccion
a otras reglas que las que a cada autor indique su voluntad o su fantasia... un drama
segiin esta doctrina puede sin estorbo contener la vida de un hombre, la historia de
una familia y aun los anales de una nacidn entera... tales y tan insostenibles para-
dojas hacen poco honor a la ilustracion del critico y a nuestra misma literatura.
The words in italics became the text for many succeeding diatribes ;
the double accusation represented the bulk of hostile criticism ;^and we
have Martinez de la Rosa writing his preface to the Poesias of 1833
with both of them in mind. He declaims against the extremists (as
much of the Classical as of the Romantic school, it is true), and, when
he comes to discuss the theories of the combatants, we find that his
whole preoccupation is the question of freedom as against submission
to rules, which last he deems essential j
No quisiera sin embargo desaprovechar la ocasidn, que ahora se me viene a las
manos, de decir en breves palabras mi sentir y dictamen respecto de las dos sectas
enemigas, que tan cruda guerra tieiien trabada en el campo de la literatura : apre-
surandome a advertir de antemano que como todo partido extreme me ha parecido
siempre intolerante, poco conforme a la razon, y contrario al bien mismo que se
propone, tal vez de esta causa provenga que me siento poco inclinado a alistarme
en las banderas de los cldsicos o de los romdnticos. . . .
Again:
I Que acontecerd probablemente, si por el ansia de seguir una senda distinta, se
corre a ciegas sin concierto ni gufa, y se desprecian como inutiles trabas los consejos
de la raz6n y del buen gusto ? Que a fuerza de mofarse de la supersticiosa obser-
vancia de las reglas, se sacudird todo freno ; y que siguiendo el curso natural de
toda secta, ya sea religiosa, ya politica, o bien literaria, los primeros caudillos
echardn por tierra los antiguos fdolos ; y sus discipulos y secuaces, llevados del
anhelo de la novedad, sobrepujaran la licencia y extravfos de sus propios maestros
(Poesias, pp. ii-iv).
Of the identification of Romanticism with lawlessness in literature,
one of the best known reviews of the time will furnish us with a striking
example. The Gartas Espanolas, unwilling to range itself on the side
of either the Classic or Romantic party, was nevertheless keenly alive
to the importance of the struggle, and it opened its columns freely to
the disputants. To two of these we owe a series of letters which takes
up the all-important question of ' What is Romanticism ? ' The first of
the writers (' El literato rancio ') contributes two letters to Vol. iv (1832,
pp. 197-201, 373-6), in the earlier of which he affects to respond to
the editor's desire 'que le diga mi parecer acerca de la gran contienda
que divide ahora el mundo literario, esto es acerca de los dos partidos
1 1828, p. 72.
8 The review was founded and edited by Jos£ Maria de Carnerero (1831-2). For its
general characteristics see Le Gentil, op. cit., pp. 26 ff.
E. ALLISON PEEKS 291
de clasicos y romanticos.' The great difficulty (he continues) in dis-
cussing the matter, is to decide what exactly is meant by each of these
terms : he will therefore discuss the various opinions current, confining
his remarks chiefly to drama because this is the principal field- of the
combatants. The rest of this first article deals with the question of
precept in literature. The Classicists' defence of it, and the Roman-
ticists' plea for liberty in art, are in turn set forth. ' Solo cuando se ve
libre,' are the words attributed to the Romantic, ' puede remontarse a
la altura de que es capaz : solo entonces mostrarse grande, sublime y
admirable cuanto cabe.' The writer then directly contradicts this with
the object of shewing 'que para acertar se necesitan reglas.' Without
denying that inspiration is necessary to the artist1, he follows familiar
lines which we need not pursue in detail. Nothing good is ever achieved
without labour ; mere facility degrades any art ; restraint, on the con-
trary, stimulates the artist ; the greatest masterpieces in literary history
are 'regular' — and so on. The author concludes his first letter by
abusing the ' delirio calenturiento de los romanticos ' and fearing that
they are about to ' inundate ' the country with ' obras Mas, extra va-
gantes y cuya lectura es insufrible.'
The second letter by the 'Literate rancio' (iv, pp. 373-6) deals with
the assertion of ' some Romantics ' who declare that they do not stand
for mere lawlessness. The writer asks then: (1) '^Es cierto que tiene
el genero romantico sus reglas conocidas ?' (2) 'Aun dado caso que las
tenga, i puede ser su objeto diferente del que se han propuesto siempre
los clasicos en sus escritos ? '
Both questions he announces that he will negative. What are these
Romantic pre 
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